David Harsanyi takes the 46 million number apart, piece-by-piece.
One of the most persistent examples of modern-day statisticulation is the sufficiently true claim that 46 million (it becomes 50 million when senators really get keyed up) Americans are without health insurance.
Taking apart the different groups that make up the 46 million number, Harsanyi identifies:
The temporarily uninsured:
According to the CBO, 45 percent of the uninsured are uninsured for four months or less...
Those who already qualify for another government program but have not signed up:
The CBO estimates that as many as 15
percent of the chronically uninsured are already eligible for help. The
Urban Institute (hardly advocates of free-market fundamentalism) found
that 25 percent of the uninsured qualify for some program.
Those who might be able to afford insurance:
Turns out that 8.4 million uninsured Americans are making $50,000 to $74,999 and 9.1 million more are making more than $75,000.
The young:
Then again, 27 percent of all adults in their 20s (many, I presume, without offspring) choose not to have health insurance.
(Come to think of it, I've been part of the "uninsured" at a few different times in my life.)
