Millions will still go without insurance if health law passes

• Uninsured

Angela Laws poses in Leesburg, Va., in this May photograph. Laws, 58, runs a small business that cleans and maintains commercial buildings. She figures that she’ll remain uninsured if she can’t find an affordable coverage option that fits a monthly budget already crammed with payments of $1,203 for rent and $530 toward her car. (AP File Photo)

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One of the biggest misconceptions about President Obama’s health care overhaul isn’t who the law will cover, but rather who it won’t.

If it survives Supreme court scrutiny, the landmark overhaul will expand coverage to about 30 million uninsured people, according to government figures. But an estimated 26 million U.S. residents will remain without coverage — a population that’s roughly the size of Texas and includes illegal immigrants and those who can’t afford to pay out-of-pocket for health insurance.

“Many people think that this health care law is going to cover everyone, and it’s not,” says Nicole Lamoureux, executive director of the Alexandria, Va.-based National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics, which represents about 1,200 clinics nationally.

To be sure, it’s estimated that the Affordable Care Act would greatly increase the number of insured Americans. The law has a provision that requires most Americans to be insured or face a tax penalty.

It also calls for an expansion of Medicaid, a government-funded program that covers the health care costs of low-income and disabled Americans.

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