U.S. Chamber of Commerce, AFL-CIO and 11 Other Major National Organizations Join Forces to Seek Solutions to the Problem of the Uninsured February 2002 (Newstream) -- During 2001, an estimated two million Americans lost their health insurance, the largest one-year increase in the number of uninsured in nearly a decade, according to new data released today by Covering the Uninsured. Covering the Uninsured is a new partnership of diverse national organizations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO, that have joined forces to seek solutions to the problem of the uninsured. The new data were compiled by Families USA.
Covering the Uninsured released a separate national survey conducted for the campaign that found that even those who currently have private health insurance are worried about losing it. Of those surveyed, 43 percent said they believed their employer or their spouse's employer might cut back or eliminate certain health care benefits and coverage options
over the next year.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, AFL-CIO, The Business Roundtable, Service Employees International Union, American Medical Association, American Nurses Association, Health Insurance Association of America, Families USA, American Hospital Association, Federation of American Hospitals, Catholic Health Association of the United States, AARP and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have united under the banner of Covering the Uninsured to sponsor a variety of educational activities, including national advertising, to publicize the extent of the problem and to seek solutions.
While these groups represent different perspectives and disagree on a range of issues, they all agree that an unacceptably large number of Americans go without health care coverage.
