Ranks of the Uninsured Reach Almost 59 Million

The United States just reached a new milestone in the Hall of Shame: nearly 59 million Americans were uninsured for at least part of 2010, according to officials at the Centers for Disease Control. That’s more uninsured Americans than the entire populations of some industrialized countries that provide health care to all of their citizens. From a Reuters article:

They said 4 million more Americans went without insurance in the first part of 2010 than during the same time in 2008.“Both adults and kids lost private coverage over the past decade,” Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told a news briefing.The findings have implications for U.S. healthcare reform efforts. A bill passed in March promises to get health insurance coverage to 32 million Americans who currently lack coverage.But Republicans who just took control of the House of Representatives last week have vowed to derail the new law by cutting off the funds for it, and some want to repeal it. Experts from both sides predict gridlock in Congress for the next two years in implementing healthcare reform’s provisions.

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