Lying with Numbers...

Over the years, we've had our own doubts about that ubiquitous "45 million uninsured." For one thing, "uninsured" doesn't mean "without access to healthcare." For another, that number has always been a "snapshot:" it's never the same (alleged) 45 million folks from year to year (or even month to month).

And now, thanks to Junk Yard Dog blog, we learn that the number itself is (no real surprise to IB readers), ahem, "inflated:"

"According to the U.S. Census Bureau, almost 45 million Americans have no health insurance...Oops, they counted non-citizens. So, what do I mean about 45 million not being 45 million? Well, the number originally came from the Census Bureau's 2005 Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC), which was corrected last year to 44.8 million people without health insurance. If you read the report, however, you'll find that 9.2 million of the uninsured are not citizens of the United States."

"Ooops" for sure.

What that means is that even if we take that "45 million" at face value (which is dubious, at best), less than 80% of those are actual, real Americans. The rest are simply skipping out on the healthcare available in their own countries.

That's a big "Oops."

(More here)