WASHINGTON, April 29, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:
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MONDAY, APRIL 29: SOCIAL INSURANCE
Profile America — Monday, April 29th. Health insurance and its affordability has been a topic of political contention mostly in the past two decades, the social need was recognized much earlier.
On this date in 1942, Rhode Island became the first state to set up a health or temporary disability insurance program for its working citizens unemployed because of sickness. The covered workers — and not employers — funded the program with a 1 percent tax on wages of less than $3,000 a year. Today, health insurance is largely an employer provided or subsidized benefit, though that is under some stress. For working employees, coverage declined from 76 percent in 1997 to 70.2 percent in 2010. Profile America is in its 16th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts, 4539
U.S. Census Bureau News Release, CB13-35
Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button).
SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau
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