health insurance

Poverty, uninsured on the rise

Submitted by CU Citizen Access on Tue, 2011-09-13 13:01

Poverty is on the increase and income is on the decline, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau released Tuesday.

The nation’s official poverty rate in 2010 was 15.1 percent, up from 14.3 percent in 2009 ─ the third consecutive annual increase in the poverty rate. There were 46.2 million people in poverty in 2010, up from 43.6 million in 2009 ─ the fourth consecutive annual increase and the largest number in the 52 years for which poverty estimates have been published. (See our interactive poverty map)

Screen shot of health insurance coverage by state

Thousands live on the edge of economic despair in county

Submitted by CU Citizen Access on Sun, 2009-07-12 17:57

After a day of wiping tables and sweeping french fries off the floor of McDonald´s, Kelly Gaddis limps home to the Courtesy Motel on North Vine Street in Urbana.

Gaddis, 53, cannot afford to buy a car or lease an apartment on the $8 an hour he earns as a lobby attendant at McDonald´s. He and his wife, who also works at the restaurant, rent a motel room by the week within walking distance of work.

He also cannot afford the company´s health insurance, so he hasn´t seen a doctor about a foot problem that causes him to limp. Asked what he does when he gets sick, Gaddis chuckles. “You hope you don´t. Or you go to the hospital and when the bill comes, you add it to the rest of them.”