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Learn. Speak. Act
International recording artist and poet, Michael "MIKE-E" Ellison
Access to Care 101
Learn more about the access to health care issue, why it matters, and what the Society is doing about the problem.
Access to Care 201
This video illustrates the importance of providing access to health care for the uninsured and undersinsured and what the American Cancer Society is doing to help. It addresses some of the questions that have arisen since the organization's campaign began in September 2007.
Children
In 2006, 8.7 million children were uninsured, up from 8 million in 2005.
[Source: DeNavas-Walt C, Proctor BD, Smith, J. Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2006.
Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau; 2007]
Many working parents cannot provide health insurance for their children. Nationally, 75 percent of uninsured children live with someone who works full time.
Nearly two out of three uninsured children in the United States (64 percent) live with adults who earn modest incomes, calculated at roughly $40,000 or less for a family of four.
States with the highest percentage of uninsured children include Texas (20.3 percent), Florida (16.9 percent), New Mexico (16.6 percent), Nevada (16.4 percent), and Montana (16.2 percent).
States with the lowest percentage of uninsured children are Vermont (5.6 percent), New Hampshire (6.0 percent), Michigan (6.1 percent), Hawaii (6.2 percent), Minnesota (6.5 percent), and Nebraska (6.5 percent).
[Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Whose Kids are Covered? A State-by-State Look at Uninsured Children, March 2007]