Tag Archives: census

As employers attempt to contain health insurance costs, workers and families struggle too

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Joseph Burns

About Joseph Burns

Joseph Burns (@jburns18), a Massachusetts-based independent journalist, is AHCJ’s topic leader on health insurance. He welcomes questions and suggestions on insurance resources and tip sheets at joseph@healthjournalism.org.

Photo: Pictures of Money via Flickr

One of the largest and most important parts of our health care system is the role employers play in providing health insurance coverage for workers, retirees, and family members. U.S. employers cover 55.1% of Americans who have health insurance, according to a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

By providing health insurance for more than half of all Americans, employers pay for the biggest share of health coverage in the United States. Continue reading →

Is the Trump administration ignoring the LGBT community?

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Liz Seegert

About Liz Seegert

Liz Seegert (@lseegert), is AHCJ’s topic editor on aging. Her work has appeared in NextAvenue.com, Journal of Active Aging, Cancer Today, Kaiser Health News, the Connecticut Health I-Team and other outlets. She is a senior fellow at the Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement at George Washington University and co-produces the HealthCetera podcast.

Photo: William Murphy via Flickr

The Trump administration recently announced that it would no longer collect information on LGBT older adults in two key national surveys: The National Survey of Older Americans Act Participants, and the Annual Program Performance Report for Centers for Independent Living.

The latter was revised in late March to omit questions on sexual orientation and gender identity. Both reports have been important in tracking services provided to this population, which already faces significant barriers in accessing quality health care, community services, and social support, according to the Center for American Progress.
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Digging deeper into the Census’ new health insurance stats

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Joanne Kenen

About Joanne Kenen

Joanne Kenen, (@JoanneKenen) the health editor at Politico, is AHCJ’s topic leader on health reform and curates related material at healthjournalism.org. She welcomes questions and suggestions on health reform resources and tip sheets at joanne@healthjournalism.org. Follow her on Facebook.

Margot Sanger-Katz

Margot Sanger-Katz

Two fellow AHCJ core topic leaders, Susan Heavey and Joseph Burns, have looked at aspects of the recent census report that documents a sharp decline in the uninsured rate. (Susan’s look at poverty and gender is here and Joe’s overview is here).

It’s also worth taking a look at four points made by Margot Sanger-Katz in a recent New York Times Upshot post. Continue reading →

Census release provides more data on poverty and the uninsured

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Susan Heavey

About Susan Heavey

Susan Heavey, (@susanheavey) a Washington, D.C.-based journalist, is AHCJ’s topic leader on social determinants of health and curates related material at healthjournalism.org. She welcomes questions and suggestions on resources and tip sheets at determinants@healthjournalism.org.

U.S. Census Bureau

When the U.S. Census Bureau released its annual estimate of income, poverty and health insurance coverage this month, health insurance numbers were front and center. While family finances and the nation’s official poverty rate was stagnant last year, the numbers of those lacking coverage fell. Now newly released regional data offers a chance to tell more layered stories.

The overall findings, which cover 2014, offered a snapshot of how people in the United States are faring amid the first full year that the Affordable Care Act required most people to obtain health insurance coverage or face penalties. It also showed how many are still failing to see gains years after the recession officially ended.

The health care gains clearly stood out in the coverage of the findings from Census, which released its main report on Sept. 16. But peel back the layers and other interesting trends also emerged. One particularly interesting finding was that more women had health insurance last year than men. Continue reading →

Get ready for annual U.S. data on poverty, uninsured and income

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Susan Heavey

About Susan Heavey

Susan Heavey, (@susanheavey) a Washington, D.C.-based journalist, is AHCJ’s topic leader on social determinants of health and curates related material at healthjournalism.org. She welcomes questions and suggestions on resources and tip sheets at determinants@healthjournalism.org.

This map from the U.S. Census shows the 2013 poverty rate for U.S. children ages 5 to 17 in families.

This map from the U.S. Census shows the 2013 poverty rate for U.S. children ages 5 to 17 in families.

It’s about that time.

If you’ve been covering social determinants for a while, you’ve likely familiarized with the U.S. Census Bureau’s annual release of income, poverty and health insurance coverage data. If you’re new to health disparities, welcome to an annual rite.

Although the statistics measure the previous calendar year, they can provide a useful overall picture of how the United States is faring when it comes to income inequality, as well as access to health care. The figure is considered the nation’s official poverty rate.

The Census Bureau will release its latest findings for 2014 on Wednesday, Sept. 16. So what can we expect and what should you be looking for? Continue reading →

Shifting projections mean U.S. population is aging faster

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Pia Christensen

About Pia Christensen

Pia Christensen (@AHCJ_Pia) is the managing editor/online services for AHCJ. She manages the content and development of healthjournalism.org, coordinates AHCJ's social media efforts and edits and manages production of association guides, programs and newsletters.

New Census Bureau numbers forecast that there will be more older people in the United States than previously anticipated.

As Adele Hayutin of the Stanford Center on Longevity points out, the implications are big:

Some of the most important personal decisions that will be affected include choices about work, living arrangements, caregiving for older relatives and financial matters concerning retirement. Policymakers will need to consider how the faster pace of aging further threatens the financial viability of Social Security and Medicare.

The trend means that the financial burder of Social Security and Medicare will fall on a smaller “working-age population.”

Hayutin’s post explains the trends that account for the shift.

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