The day after President Obama addressed Congress on September 9 to shed some light on hopes of reshaping the national healthcare system, his speech received mixed reviews with most of the negative feedback coming from the GOP. One of the key points to the President’s speech was that those who currently have healthcare coverage would have greater security with his proposed policy.

A person, who has coverage, will not have their policy cancelled if they become sick, and for those that lose their jobs, supplemental plans would be offered at a more reasonable price.

The current administration is adamant about reshaping the nation’s healthcare system, following a report by the Census Bureau showing that the number of Americans without health insurance increased to more than 46 million in 2008. These figures do not reflect the numbers from the first half of 2009 in which hundred of thousands of workers lost their jobs as well as their health insurance.

In 2008, there were more than 46 million people without insurance, which represented 15.4% of all Americans. Despite that high number in ‘08, 2007’s figures did manage to retreat from the Census Bureau’s reading of more than 47 million without coverage in 2006.

As the recession lingers on, the country’s poverty rate surged to 13.2%, establishing its highest level in more than 11 years. The current rate follows 2007’s rate of 12.5%, or nearly 40 million, or 1 in 7 people living below the poverty line. The current poverty line stands at $22,025 per year for a family of four, before taxes.

In 2008, the median household income decreased to $50,303 for a family of four.

So what do these figures actually represent? First off, there were more than 7 million children throughout the country that did not have health insurance, nearly 10% of the population. One positive is that that number did recede from 2007’s total of 8.1 million children without provided care.

Looking at the statistics on an ethnicity basis, the number of uninsured Caucasians increased to 21.3 million, or 10.8%, up fewer than 1 million from 2007. Meanwhile, African-Americans held steady at 7.3 million, or 19.1%, while the uninsured rate for Asians jumped to 17.6%, up from 16.8%

Overall, Obama’s administration is looking to overhaul the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system. The President assured the public that the reform would cut costs, regulate insurers to help protect consumers while expanding coverage and improving care.

As it currently stands, three committees within the House of Representative and one in the Senate have already completed their work on the proposed healthcare bill. Now this only leaves the Senate Financial Committee with the final say before the bill can be finalized.