1.5 Million More Poor

As the health-care debate rages through Congress, the number of poor and uninsured Americans has increased. The Associated Press reports that 38.8 million Americans are believed to live in poverty, making less than $13,540 for a family of two or $21,203 for a family of four, according to preliminary numbers from the 2008 census. The Commerce Department undersecretary of economic affairs said that the poverty rate underwent a "statistically significant" increase to at least 12.7 percent, a jump of more than 1.5 million people over the previous year. Rising unemployment and waning private coverage are also expected to swell the rolls of uninsured considerably, despite the fact that in 2007 those numbers fell by more than 1 million with the help of government programs like Medicaid picking. The final census numbers will be released next month.