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NewsFlash: September 25, 2006

More Americans go without, as employers increasingly drop health coverage

In 2005, safety net programs for children failed to meet rising need

In 2005, for the fifth straight year, the number of Americans without health insurance rose significantly while the share of those with employer-provided coverage dropped. From 2000 to 2005, the number of people without any health insurance grew by nearly 7 million to a total of 46.6 million, as the uninsured share of the total population grew from 14.2% to 15.9%.

Please join EPI economist Elise Gould, author of the forthcoming briefing paper Health Insurance Eroding for Working Families for a news conference call on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 at noon to discuss latest data and trends in health care coverage, nationally and by state.

For interviews or more information, contact the EPI Communications Departement at 202-775-8810 or news@epi.org.

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