Number of Uninsured Grows
Wednesday, August 27 2008
by Leoneda Inge
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Figures from the US Census Bureau show the number of North Carolinians without health insurance is growing. Nationally, the number of people without health insurance dropped half a percent from 2006 to 2007. But in North Carolina, the number of un-insured increased by almost two percent. Mark Holmes is Vice President of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine:
“North Carolina was one of eight states that experienced an increase and it was the fifth largest increase of all the states so that's something that has us concerned.”
Holmes says as the number of un-insured rises, so will the cost of health insurance for those who have it. The number of un-insured in the state is up to 1-point-five million residents. There is some good news, the median household income in the state is up to 44, 600. Charles Nelson works in the Census Bureau's Income, Poverty and Health statistics division:
“A 1.9-percent increase over a one year period in real terms is certainly a nice indication that 2007 was a fairly good year for the state of North Carolina.”
Meanwhile men continue to make more money than women. Nationally, women earn about 78-cents for every dollar a man earns.
