In a nationally televised prime time press conference tonight, President Barack Obama falsely claimed there are 47 million Americans without health insurance.
This inflated claim of the number of uninsured Americans was even higher than the false claim of 46 million uninsured Americans that the president’s Council of Economic Advisers made last month.
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47 Million Americans without Health Insurance Census Report
29 Aug 2007
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/80897.php
A report by the US Census Bureau this week shows that household income is up, the poverty rate is slightly down for the first time this decade, but the
number of people without health insurance went up by 0.5 per cent to reach 47 million in 2006.
The Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2006 report draws on information collected in two surveys: the 2007 Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC).
There has been a strong reaction to the report, with the presidential elections coming up next year, the New York Times describes it as a "presidential candidate's gold mine", with the main focus being on the fact that 47 million Americans still have no health insurance and the proportion of children with no health insurance has risen, with the poorest children the most likely to be uninsured.
This has boosted calls by many candidates to bring more people into the government scheme. Recently the government based schemes have received wide support in Congress even though President Bush has promised to veto any legislation that expands them.