Recession adds 3.7 million to uninsured, report says

The recession has pushed an additional 3.7 million Americans into the ranks of the uninsured, according to estimates in a report by Ken Jacobs and Dave Graham-Squire, professors at the University of California at Berkeley. Graham-Squire is a member of CWA Local 9119 and vice-president of the local's chapter at Berkeley. 

That increase came in less than a year and a half, from November 2007 to February 2009 - and the authors say their numbers may be too conservative.

"This recession has a bigger rate of underemployed than we have seen in previous recessions, meaning people are involuntarily working part time which can also lead to insurance loss," Jacobs told the San Francisco Chronicle.  "It's possible the situation is far worse."

And, even when the economy recovers and the jobs come back, the health insurance won't, the authors predict. If there's no health reform, and if premiums continue to rise at the current rate, there will be 4.2 million more uninsured in 2012 than there were in 2007, before the economy began its decline, they estimate.

"As the national debate about possible health-care reform approaches, an emphasis is already being placed on the economic cost of enacting health-care reform during a time of economic crisis," the report says.  "This policy brief looks at another angle of the health-care reform debate--the impact on health coverage of not acting."

As more people lose coverage, the report says, costs will increase for employers and individuals who do buy insurance.  The cost of treating the uninsured adds from 5 to 10 percent to health premiums, the report says.