The percentage of Californians without health insurance fell slightly in 2007 compared to 2005. But a new report from the U-C-L-A Center for Health Policy Research says that gain has already been wiped out in the current recession. KPBS Reporter Kenny Goldberg has more.
The report says the slight reduction in the uninsured rate was due to more employer-based health coverage in 2007. Since then, however, the number of people who've lost their jobs has skyrocketed.
Dr. Richard Brown directs the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
Dr. Richard Brown: We are in a plummeting economy right now, and we know that the effect of that, will be, to dramatically reduce the number of people covered by job-based health insurance.
Brown says nearly one in five Californians was uninsured at some point in 2007. He believes the ratio may soon rise to one in four.
Kenny Goldberg, KPBS News.
