U.S. Poverty Rate Unchanged; More People Lack Health Insurance

AP Via Journal Sentinel ^ | August 30, 2006 | Stephen Ohlemacher

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

Your comments about lifestyle and keeping the elderly alive in their last months are worthy of discussion. From what Doctors tell me, most people are not kept alive through heroic means just to extent their lives a little while. Still people hang on. My Mom smoked for 50 years and developed emphysema, and now she probably has only a year or two at most to live. Her medical expenses are not yet out of sight, but if I need to put her in a nursing home, that could happen. I think it would be hard to make a clear policy on when you stop treating elderly people. I have heard of Alzheimer's patients living in nursing homes for 10 years (paid my Medicaid). I suppose that would be a case to discuss. What do you do, starve the people to death?? There are many difficult ethical issues.

[line drive to right]

Maybe the poverty rate has increased, however, if I remember correctly, the POVERTY RATES DURING THE FIRST FOUR YEARS OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION WERE LOWER THAN THE RATES OF THE FIRST SIX YEARS OF THE CLINTON "ADMINISTRATION." Somebody who knows where to check this, please do.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Here you go. Knock it out of the park, line drive to right! :)

http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty.html

[Diana in Wisconsin]

There is a link here to the historical poverty tables:

http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/histpov/histpovtb.html