As the U.S. Supreme Court ponders the fate of U.S. healthcare, a study shows that one in four working-age Americans went without insurance at some point in 2011, often as a result of unemployment and other job changes.
The study by the Commonwealth Fund polled 2,100 people aged 19 to 64 and found that 26 percent of non-elderly adults went without insurance -- a percentage that researchers said equals about 48 million people when measured against U.S. Census data.
The Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit organization that analyzes healthcare issues, said that seven in 10 of those who lost insurance spent a year or more without coverage, partly because plans sold on the individual market for health insurance were unaffordable.
Without insurance, people quickly disconnected from the $2.6 trillion U.S. healthcare system by avoiding basic medical services such as doctor visits and screenings for cancer, cholesterol and high blood pressure.
Read more from Reuters.
