The author points out that many important areas effecting household income and expenses are completely ignored by the government when calculating the poverty rate. I will point out just one of the expenses - healthcare costs. There is no possible way that the government can presume to know the actual poverty rate without factoring the cost of healthcare for the individuals and families in the United States. Healthcare costs have risen faster than the costs of almost all other goods and services since "private health insurance" was introduced. It takes an ever increasing portion of household income, and yet, it is not considered a factor when determining the poverty rate in the United States. I congratulate Mr. DeGraw on a well researched and enlightening article.