From the Census Bureau today in the publication "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2006 report [PDF].' we learn that the nation’s official poverty rate declined for the first time this decade, from 12.6 percent in 2005 to 12.3 percent in 2006. There were 36.5 million people in poverty in 2006, not statistically different from 2005. The number of people without health insurance coverage rose from 44.8 million (15.3 percent) in 2005 to 47 million (15.8 percent) in 2006.
Dr. Henry Simmons, president of the National Coalition on Health Care, a nonpartisan group in Washington, said, "About two-thirds of the increase in the number of uninsured last year came in households with pretax income of $75,000 or more." He added, "Rising health-care costs and the general economic slowdown probably has increased the number of uninsured since the end of 2006. ... This has now created a massive and growing national economic crisis"
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