"Every day, 14,000 Americans lose their coverage," President Obama said in his speech to Congress this month, "It can happen to anyone."

An another era, another president might have said, "Ich bin ein uninsured."

A new analysis from the U.S. Treasury shows that it can, and does, happen to anyone.

In a recent 10-year span of relative economic prosperity and job creation (1997-2006) nearly half of all Americans under age 65 were uninsured at some point. More than one in three lacked coverage for at least a year. Looking ahead to another 10-year period including our current time of economic recession and job loss, the picture is even gloomier -- at least in the absence of comprehensive health reform.

The Treasury study found that during the decade:

• 48 percent are uninsured at some point
• 41 percent go without coverage for at least six months
• 36 percent go without coverage for at least one year
• 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
• 53 percent of Americans in rural areas go without insurance
• 45 percent of Americans with household incomes between $50,000-$100,000 (ten-year average) go without insurance at some point.

Who are they? Just about anyone. U.S.-born and naturalized citizens. College educated and not. Men and women. Working and unemployed. USA Today took a look at the "five faces" of the uninsured. Here's a snapshot:

The self-employed

They can be like Patrick Bruce, 61, a success in corporate America who went out and started his own business. He went without insurance, briefly -- and had a heart attack and triple bypass surgery. The bills ruined him and he can't afford to spend the $20,000 it would cost to insure someone with his cardiac history. So he goes without insurance -- and without adequate medical care, just hoping he makes it through four more years until he can get Medicare.

"I'm not necessarily a big Obama fan," says Bruce, a self-described lifelong Republican until his heart attack. "But when he was talking (on Sept. 9 to Congress), it was like he was talking to me."

The Unemployed

Single mom Porchia Lewis had a full-time job testing sensors used in Fords, Cadillacs and other cars. She could support herself and her three kids. But the recession sent her hometown of Elkhart, Indiana, reeling. She is now unemployed, and uninsured -- and she's got plenty of company in a community where nearly one in five workers are jobless.

She's studying to retrain for a new career, and her kids got coverage through a state program. But she goes without. She isn't following the Washington debate in close detail but said, "I just want something to happen soon."

The Working Poor

Ratana Lim, a Vietnamese-born, California-raised, U.S. citizen with a degree from UC Berkeley and a full-time job at a company that recently dropped health benefits, earns too much to qualify for any government-run insurance program or clinic, but too little to get covered himself. Insurance would be expensive, as he has a preexisting condition, HIV.

"I don't know how my health is right now," says Lim, who is single and can't afford the drugs that can keep people with HIV healthy for many years. "I haven't even had my teeth cleaned in several years. There are basic needs I haven't met."

"There's a voice inside me that says I need to move to Canada," says Lim, a U.S. citizen. "I also have a sister in France, so I'm thinking about that."

Preexisting Condition

Cindy Shawcross is a 38-year old mother and thyroid cancer survivor. Without insurance, she can't afford the scans and monitoring to make sure the cancer has not returned -- or treat it if it has. She worries about a lump in her breast, but is postponing a mammogram until she finds a place that will give her one for free.

She was in a car accident in July, and lost her job -- and insurance -- soon after. She didn't chose to get sick, to leave her job, to lose coverage. "They (the choices) were made for me."

A Job -- With No More Benefits

As a legal secretary at big law firms, Alexandra Mitchell had a good salary and top-notch health insurance. Two years ago she left her job to take care of a family member, and couldn't afford to buy insurance herself. Nor could she manage to pay the rates available to her when she got a temp job at a small business. Healthy and in her 40s, she didn't worry too much about a temporary lapse. Then the recession hit, and when she returned to Dallas she could not get another good legal job. After months of looking and temping, she got a job -- and a salary cut and no health insurance.

"This isn't just happening to poor and/or uneducated people," she says. "It is happening to middle-income people by the millions.

The only thing they had in common -- they deserved better. With health reform, they can get it.