FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: May 8, 2009
Contact: Patrick Cobb
Office: 803-765-7373
Health Insurance Crisis Hitting 50-64 Age Group Hard
A new report from AARP shows a growing number of older, working adults are living without health insurance.
Americans aged 50-64 are taking a hard hit in these times of shrinking employer-sponsored health coverage. They have become the fastest growing group of uninsured. The rate at which they have been losing coverage is alarming – 36 percent between 2000 and 2007, according to AARP’s Public Policy Institute.
In 2007, 7.1 million people in this age group had no health insurance. In South Carolina, almost 117,000 adults in that age group (14.8 percent) were uninsured. And officials suspect the number has been growing since the study was conducted because of the economy and increased unemployment.
Officials were especially alarmed by the number of working adults without an insurance plan. Many are at small companies or are self-employed. Reports show that many people in this group who apply for individual health insurance are denied coverage, or face high premiums based on age or preexisting medical conditions.
“This group is not always thought of as one of the groups having so much trouble with health insurance,” said Jane Wiley, AARP’s state director in South Carolina. “That’s why AARP has made guaranteeing access to affordable health coverage for people aged 50-64 an essential element of health reform.”
Because of the economy, as more working men and women in this age group are losing jobs with employer-sponsored health care, they are finding it more and more difficult – if not impossible – to get affordable individual coverage. This is, in large part, because health insurers consider age and pre-existing conditions when setting their rates.
The problem is becoming more serious because the 50-64 population is growing rapidly. Nearly one of every five Americans will be 50-64 by 2015. AARP is pressing Congress to find a common-sense solution to the coverage gap for those 50-64 years old. The age group makes up about half of AARP’s 40 million members.
For a complete copy of the AARP report, go to www.aarp.org/research/health/carefinancing/i24_hcr.html.
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AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. We produce AARP The Magazine, published bimonthly; AARP Bulletin, our monthly newspaper; AARP Segunda Juventud, our bimonthly magazine in Spanish and English; NRTA Live & Learn, our quarterly newsletter for 50+ educators; and our Web site, www.aarp.org. AARP Foundation is our affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.