12/17/2009 © Health News Florida
About 2.4 million people will gain insurance coverage in Florida by 2019 if the Senate health-care bill passes, according to a report to be released next week by the consumer health organization Families USA.
The report, based on a Congressional Budget Office estimate of the number of people in Florida who will gain health coverage by 2019 under the Senate bill, also details the increase in the number of Florida residents who would find themselves uninsured by the same date, should the bill fail.
According to the CBO, 31 million Americans would gain coverage under the Senate bill by 2019. And the 46 million currently uninsured will increase to 54 million by 2019 (the last year for which the CBO includes estimates coverage).
Florida is among the 10 states projected to have the largest increase in the number of residents with health coverage by 2019, along with Arizona, New Jersey, Ohio, North Carolina, Illinois, Georgia, New York, Texas and California, ranging from 821,000 to 4,527,000. By contrast, if the bill fails, those same 10 states will have the largest losses in coverage, ranging from 212,000 to 1,168,000. Nationally, more than 8 million people will lose coverage.
Every state stands to gain from the passage of the health reform bill, according to the Families USA report. On the other hand, If the Senate does not pass its bill, each state will see a substantial increase in its uninsured population.
See the full report.