A significant number of working Americans in every state do not have healthcare coverage, a new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds.

According to the report, Characteristics of the Uninsured: A View from the States, at least one in five working adults in eight states is uninsured. In thirty-nine other states, at least one working adult in every ten does not have coverage. In addition, between one-fourth and one-half of all uninsured adults in all fifty states and the District of Columbia were unable to see a doctor when needed in the past year because of cost.

The report was released to kick off Cover the Uninsured Week, a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in partnership with more than twenty other funders, including the California Endowment and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. From May 1 to May 8, more than one thousand events across the country will highlight the importance of stable and affordable healthcare coverage for all Americans, including the nearly 45 million Americans who are uninsured. In addition to the foundations supporting the effort, more than eight hundred national and local organizations will participate. Former presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter have signed on as honorary co-chairs of the campaign.

"Cover the Uninsured Week provides momentum and mobilization that will ultimately result in actions that benefit the millions of Americans who live without health coverage," said RWJF president and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey. "Too many families suffer, and too many lives are lost because our nation has not taken action to address this problem. As a nation, and as individuals, we can either let 45 million of our neighbors live without health insurance, or we can come together and do something about it."

To download the complete report (49 pages, PDF), visit http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/Full_SHADAC.pdf.