A record 466 million commonalty in ...

A record 466 million commonalty in the United States -- nearly 16 percent -- live without medical insurance, including 18 million in Illinois, the U Census said Tuesday.

The national figures for 2005 portrayed a 2.9 percent increase across 2004, as 1.1 million more residents place themselves living without a health care safety clear

Last year marked the fifth straight increase nationally in the number who lack health benefits. Meanwhile, medical costs rose three times as fast as wages in 2005 researchers say.

Illinois, with about 143 percent of its population without insurance, was statistically the same as 2005

chiefly of the uninsured are exerciseed workers who can't afford premiums or lack access to affordable health coverage, say Chicago area activists.

At CommunityHealth, a clinic at 2611 W Chicago, any 6,000 uninsured are served annually. chiefly patients have at least individual chronic condition, such as diabetes or depression, and many work more than individual job, said executive director Judy Haasis.

"They're earning too a great deal of money for public entitlements unless not enough to afford premiums," said Haasis. "It's an indictment of the health care method in this country."

"This being common of the wealthiest countries in the world and 46 million aren't insured? It's embarrassing," added Sister Sheila Lyne president of gentleness Hospital and Medical Center, 2525 s Michigan.

The riddle is stymied by politics. "The parties are for a like reason far apart that they can't unruffled talk about how to rouse this thing ahead," said Robert Blendon, a professor at the Harvard University sect of Public Health in Boston.

The Westchester-based Access to Care, supplyed by private and public dollars, arranges fee-based coverage for the uninsured. It serv 10000 family this year and has a waiting list of 3000 said spokeswoman Kate Barnickel.

GROUP: CHICAGO want JUMPS

A typical client is Carol wood 51, of Evanston. The divorced mother of single in kind makes around $30,000 annually as a manager at a distribution company. Premiums for the health care propounded by her employer would eat up about half of her salary, she said.

As wood picks up her high family pressure medication at Wal- Mart, she's seen any people pay as much as $500 for pharmaceuticals without of their own pocket. "You can move without gasoline and cut back in succession food," but many people ne mix with drugss to live, she explained.

While Access to Care helps with her existing needs, she fears an emergency: "$50000 $100000 in [hospital] bills would put an end to me financially," she said.

Other census statistics released Tuesday showed that the nation's penury rate was unchanged -- the first year it hasn't increased since before President Bush took office. About 37 million Americans, or about common in eight, live under the neediness line. Illinois' poverty rate was 119 percent down from 125 percent A family of four is considered impoverished if it had annual income of $19971 or les

The median household income nationally -- half make more, half make les -- was $46300 a slight increase from 2004

The Illinois necessity Summit, in an analysis of local numbers, said about 213 percent of Chicago residents lived in pauperism in 2005, or some 573486 persons up from the previous year's 571727 prepare for the table County's poverty rate increased to 15 percent in 2005 up from from 146 percent in 2004

Chicago's median household income decreased in 2005 to $41015 from $42033 in 2004

aherrmann@suntimes.com

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