That statistic comes from a major study by the Treasury Department. Simply put, losing insurance can happen to anyone.

At yesterday's health reform event, President Obama told the story of Natoma, a self-employed woman in Ohio who found herself in the position of losing her health insurance after yet another rate hike from her insurance company:

"She realized that if she paid those health insurance premiums that had been jacked up by 40 percent … she couldn't make ends meet. So January was her last month of being insured. Like so many responsible Americans -- folks who work hard every day, who try to do the right thing -- she was forced to hang her fortunes on chance... And on Saturday, Natoma was diagnosed with leukemia…"

"Part of what makes this issue difficult is most of us do have health insurance, we still do.... But what we have to understand is that what's happened to Natoma, there but for the grace of God go any one of us."

For Natoma and the millions of other Americans forced to face the burden of medical bills they can't pay while at their most vulnerable -- the time is now for health insurance reform. Watch the video of Natoma's story and learn what more you can do to help spread the word about the need for reform.

See the U.S. Department of the Treasury report on The Risk of Losing Health Insurance Over a Decade: New Findings from Longitudinal Data

Major Findings on Ten-Year Uninsurance Rates for Non-elderly Americans

• 48 percent are uninsured at some point over a ten-year span

• 41 percent go without coverage for at least six months over a ten-year span

• 36 percent go without coverage for at least one year over a ten-year span

• 32 percent of people who are covered for all 12 months of a given year go without coverage at some point during the following nine years

• 57 percent of Americans under age 21 are insured at some point over a ten-year span

• 53 percent of Americans in rural areas go without insurance over a ten-year span