The US Census Bureau released a new report recently that showed median household income dropped in 2010.  In addition to this statistic, the poverty rate increased creating more of a divide between the classes within the nation.  The number of people with health care coverage did not change significantly from the previous year, which could be viewed as a good thing since incomes did drop a noticeable amount.

Based on the article found on the MSNBC website, real median household income in 2010 was $49,445 in the United States which is a 2.3% drop from the previous year.  The Census Bureau also noted that the nation’s poverty rate increased from 14.3% in 2009 to 15.1% in 2010.  This is the third year in a row this poverty rate has increased which is an upsetting trend that needs to be turned around for 2011.

In 2010, 46.2 million Americans were living in poverty, up from 43.6 million in 2009.  This is the largest number in the 52 years poverty statistics have been published based on the new report.  This obviously directly affects the number of people carrying health insurance.  It’s a vicious cycle, because if people without health insurance need health care but are living in poverty conditions, then the health care bills add up, pushing them further into debt and making it harder for them to get out of poverty.  The Affordable Care Act is striving to make health insurance more affordable and easier to obtain so time will tell if the numbers change in the years to come.

Written by Sam Tabes

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