WASHINGTON, April 29, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:
SOCIAL INSURANCE
Profile America — Wednesday, April 29th. Health insurance and its affordability has been a topic of political contention mostly in the past two decades, but the social need was recognized much earlier. On this date in 1942, Rhode Island became the first state to set up a health or temporary disability insurance program for its working citizens unemployed because of sickness. The covered workers — not the employers — funded the program with a 1 percent tax on wages of less than $3,000 a year. Most Americans are without disability insurance, although Social Security provides some coverage to qualified workers. But health insurance is another matter. In 2013, over 200 million private policies were in force, with 168 million based on employment. Over 45 million Americans remained uninsured. Profile America is completing its 18th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts, 4539
Disability insurance: http://www.insurancelibrary.com/disability-insurance/how-many-people-have-disability-insurance
Social Security Disability Insurance: http://www.ssa.gov/disability/
Health insurance 2013: http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_13_1YR_S2701&prodType=table
Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button).
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110428/DC91889LOGO
SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau
Related Links
WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?
Newsrooms &
Influencers
Digital Media
Outlets
Journalists
Opted In
Share this article