Insurance and the Uninsured
The percentage of Americans experiencing problems accessing health care increased from 2000 to 2004, just as the likelihood of this group to vote in a presidential election also increased, researchers report in a study in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved.
In both years, the majority of people who had care problems were black, 25 to 44 years old, not married, had a high school education, were not homeowners and had never attended religious services, according to the study. There was a significant population increase in this group between 2000 and 2004, and the group was twice as likely to vote for the Democratic presidential candidate as for the Republican in 2004, researchers found.
The authors acknowledge that changing economic conditions might account for part of the growth but that rising health care costs likely will increase the number of individuals -- both insured and uninsured -- who postpone care and who will vote for candidates who offer proposals to address health care issues (Ziegenfuss et al., Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, August 2008).