WASHINGTON - October 20, 2009 - The level of poverty in Amerika is even worse than first believed. A revised formula for calculating medical costs and geographic variations shows that approximately 47.4 million Amerikans last year lived in poverty; 7 million more than the government's official figure.

The disparity occurs because of differing formulas the Census Bureau and the National Academy of Science use for calculating the poverty rate. The NAS formula shows the poverty rate to be at 15.8%, or nearly 1 in 6 Amerikans, according to calculations released this week. That's higher than the 13.2%, or 39.8 million, figure made available recently under the original government formula.

That measure, created in 1955, does not factor in rising medical care, transportation, childcare, or geographical variations in living costs. Nor does it consider non-cash government aid when calculating income. As a result, official figures released last month by Census may have overlooked millions of poor people, many of them 65 and older.