The prolonged recession has pushed the number of people in the United States without health insurance to 50.7 million in 2009, up from 46.3 million the previous year, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. It was the first increase since 1987, the first year that the Census Bureau collected comparable data on health insurance as nearly 1 in 6 Americans found themselves without coverage.

The large number of unemployed people helped fuel the growing number of people without health insurance. The number of jobs dropped by more than 8 million between the start of 2008 and the end of 2009. The bureau found that the percentage of people covered by employment-based insurance (55.8 percent) hit a record low since comparable data was available. It also found that private insurance (63.9 percent) is the lowest it has been since 1987. At the same time, the number of people covered by government health insurance programs swelled (30.6 percent) and is the highest since 1987, as is the percentage covered by Medicaid (15.7 percent).

Though landmark health reform legislation is expected to expand health insurance to as many as 32 million people without coverage, the data show the toll the economy has taken on the ability of Americans to afford coverage.
“The substantial expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program helped inoculate our children from the economic distress experienced by their parents, as there was little change in the percentage of children without health insurance,” said President Barack Obama in response to the report. “The Affordable Care Act will build on that success by expanding health insurance coverage to more families.”

Sister Carol Keehan, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, says the Census Bureau report “provides fresh evidence that health reform was a necessary and important step toward creating a system that works for everyone.”

“This new data is not surprising given the toll the recession has taken on working individuals and families,” she says.

Robert Greenstein, executive director of the non partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said the findings underscore the relevance of the recently enacted health reform law, which substantially expands coverage for people who cannot obtain insurance through an employer. “Had health reform been in place in 2009,” he says, “the number of people without health insurance would have risen far less.”