Two updated documents offer the latest available data on the uninsured, shedding light on an issue at the heart of the health reform debate.

The Uninsured and the Difference Health Insurance Makes, a fact sheet, provides an overview of the uninsured population and why people are uninsured, as well as a look at how health insurance can affect one's access to health care and financial well being.

Five Basic Facts on the Uninsured, an issue brief, provides basic facts that explain why so many people in America lack health coverage and how being uninsured affects their health and financial security.

Both documents include fresh data from the U.S. Census Bureau and were released Sept. 18 at a briefing co-sponsored by Kaiser and the Alliance for Health Reform which examined what the new uninsured numbers mean for health reform.

The Uninsured and the Difference Health Insurance Makes

Five Basic Facts on the Uninsured

 Webcast of briefing

 Podcast of briefing