New Report Details U.S. Health Insurance Rates

Massage therapists who receive insurance reimbursement should know both the percentage and the number of people without health insurance increased in 2006, according to a new government report issued in August.

The percentage without health insurance increased from 15.3 percent in 2005 to 15.8 percent in 2006, and the number of uninsured people increased from 44.8 million in 2005 to 47.0 million in 2006.

Other highlights of Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2006, issued by the U.S. Census Bureau, include:

• The number of people with health insurance increased to 249.8 million in 2006 (up from 249.0 million in 2005). In 2006, the number of people covered by private health insurance (201.7 million) and the number of people covered by government health insurance (80.3 million) were not statistically different from 2005.

• The percentage of people covered by employment-based health insurance decreased from 60.2 percent in 2005 to 59.7 percent in 2006.

• The percentage of people covered by government health programs decreased from 27.3 percent in 2005 to 27.0 percent in 2006. The percentage and the number of people covered by Medicaid were statistically unchanged at 12.9 percent and 38.3 million, respectively, in 2006.