Statistics on poverty, uninsured challenge longtime church efforts

Published: 2003-10-03

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. Census Bureau's new statistics on the number of Americans in poverty and without health insurance did not come as a big surprise to Catholic leaders involved in church anti-poverty and health care ministries. But they did see a challenge. "The fact that 2.4 million more Americans have no health insurance is a national disgrace that must result in a renewed call to ensure affordable and accessible health care coverage for all," said Father Michael D. Place, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association. For years, Father Place and his organization have been working with dozens of other groups -- from trade unions to medical associations, business owners to retired people -- in "Covering the Uninsured," a campaign to keep the issue in the public eye and to convince U.S. policymakers that all Americans need access to affordable health care. The Census Bureau reported Sept. 30 that 43.6 million Americans had no health insurance during 2002, up from 41.2 million the year before. The number of people who have health insurance also increased, by 1.5 million, to 242.4 million in 2002.

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