How many North Country people don’t have health insurance?

As we rumble through this weekend’s debate, I found an interesting chunk of information on the Washington Post website.

The Post analyzed how many people in each congressional district live and work without health insurance.

Turns out roughly 12% of our neighbors live without coverage. That’s roughly 1 out of every 8 people.

That means when they get sick or injured, the cost of their care will hit their pocketbooks directly, or be born by the medical professionals who treat them.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill now being debated would cut the rate of uninsured in the US to around 5%.

Obviously, it’s a little unclear still how the massive legislation would affect people in our region.

One other detail on the Post’s analysis is the amount of money this region’s lawmakers have received from the healthcare industry.

Looks like fairly small amounts for Reps. Scott Murphy, Bill Owens, and Mike Arcuri, all Democrats.