Uninsured Projected to Approach 1-million in Washington SEATTLE, WA (KPLU) - As Congress continues its debate over health care, more people are losing or dropping their health insurance, according to new estimates. The bottom line: By the end of 2010, there could be nearly one million people in Washington without coverage.

The latest numbers are based on a formula that factors in the rising cost of health-care along with declines in personal income. The cost of health care has been rising 5-6 times faster than inflation. Ron Pollack of the group Families USA, which lobbies for universal health care, says insurance is becoming unaffordable to some businesses, "so employers are diminishing coverage or dropping coverage and diminishing means more payments and copayments for the workers." Those workers, in turn, may decide they can't afford to keep their insurance.

Families USA used national data published by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (in the journal Health Affairs). Then, they calculated the implications state by state. They predict about 3,000 people in Washington are losing their insurance every month. And that figure doesn't include most people who lose coverage because of a layoff. If you add those people, too, the state Insurance Commissioner says the number in Washington without coverage should reach 958,000 by December of 2010 (out of a statewide population of 6.5 million).

Of course, all these numbers are being highlighted now as part of the politics of health care. If enough Americans feel their insurance is threatened, it creates momentum for groups like Families USA to lobby for Congressional action.

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