A new report from national health care organization Families USA says that 841,000 Nevadans were uninsured at some point between 2007-2008. In response, Sen. Harry Reid and executive director of Families USA Ron Pollack held a teleconference Wednesday to discuss what Pollack says is “worse than an epidemic.”

“The huge number of people without health coverage in Nevada is worse than an epidemic,” Pollack said. “Meaningful health care can no longer be on the back burner.”

The Families USA report shows that more than one out of three Nevadans under 65 years of age, or 37.2 percent, were uninsured for some period of time in 2007-2008. The report, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality, reveals that one out of every three non-elderly people in the United States, or 86.7 million Americans, were uninsured during that same period.

According to Pollack, Congress and President Barack Obama have already begun to provide health care for four million more children. However, the rising cost of health care is making it difficult for businesses and families to afford insurance.

“The health care crisis is hurting both the insured and uninsured,” said Bob Fulkerson, executive director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. “The health care system has left so many people of color behind. We need health care reform that covers everyone and is based on a family’s ability to pay. This needs to be a top priority for 2009.”

Fulkerson explained that nationwide, three times as many Hispanics are uninsured compared to whites, and in Nevada there are twice as many Hispanics without insurance compared to whites.

“This can be traced to wealth issues and wealth gaps,” Fulkerson said. “This can be linked to education disparities, as well. Structural racism and race disparities in health care need to be part of the equation.”

According to Pollack, many Hispanics work for small businesses that don’t provide health care coverage or for companies that don’t provide fringe benefits.

“Hispanics are disproportionally uninsured,” Pollack said. “They tend to work in the service sector which, as a general rule, provides less fringe benefits than other sectors.”

During the conference, Reid expressed his concern that four in five uninsured Nevadans come from working families.

“These are not people looking for handouts,” Reid said. “There are a number of different ways we can do this, but we have no choice but to do it,” Reid said of the need for health care reform.