Dave Newbart, Chicago Sun-Times, October 9, 2008Report: 17 percent of Cook Co. residents uninsured

What's not included in a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau on the uninsured is "even darker and more ominous,'' one local expert said.

The report to be released today offers the first look at the number of uninsured in the country who are below age 65 - essentially those who don't have access to the government-sponsored insurance through Medicare. It finds that 16.9 percent of Cook County residents - nearly 785,000 people - don't have health insurance. That's higher than the percentage statewide - 15.4 - but slightly lower than the percentage of uninsured nationwide - 17.2.

But Saul Weiner, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said a growing concern is the number of underinsured - those who have insurance but still spend at least 10 percent of their income on health care costs (or 5 percent of low-income people). That number, according to a study released in June, jumped to 25 million people nationwide in 2007, a 60 percent increase since 2003.

It's so bad that even some of those with insurance are avoiding needed care because of high deductibles and copays, Weiner said.

Still, he said major cuts at the county level have led to a reduction of free health care offered by Stroger Hospital and other clinics. "Being uninsured in Cook County is much more difficult than it used to be,'' he said.

Lindsay Potter, 21, a Chicago college student with no insurance, says simply: "I don't get sick.''

But not everyone is as healthy as she is. She hopes the next president will address the problem.

"It's a huge issue,'' she said. "It needs to be taken care of.''

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