MHA Press Room

CBO: Uninsured could grow to 54 million by 2019

Without changes in policy, the number of uninsured Americans under age 65 could reach 54 million by 2019, Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf told the Senate Budget Committee on Feb. 10 at a hearing on budget options for health reform. “That projection is consistent with long-standing trends in coverage and largely reflects the expectation that health care costs and health insurance premiums will continue to rise faster than people’s income – making health insurance more difficult to afford,” Elmendorf said, testifying on policy options for expanding health coverage and controlling health care costs.

Study: Many uninsured children have a parent with health coverage

An estimated 3 million children a year have no health care coverage even though at least one of their parents is insured, according to a study in the Oct. 22/29 Journal of the American Medical Association. “More than a million of these children were without coverage for the entire year,” the researchers said.

Low- and middle-income families were more likely to have an uninsured child and insured parent, as were single-parent and Hispanic households and parents with private insurance. “The working adults in these families may be able to afford private insurance for themselves but cannot afford to pay the premiums to cover their entire family,” the study suggests.

The findings are based on an analysis of 2002-2005 data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

Decline in uninsured is reported for 2007

After climbing steadily for six years, the number of Americans without health insurance dropped by more than a million in 2007, to 45.7 million, the Census Bureau has reported. The drop was largely because more people were covered through government programs. The number of uninsured, however, are higher today than they were at the outset of the Bush administration in 2001. That year, 39.8 million people, or 14.1%, were uninsured.

Ian Urbina's story in The New York Times had more data that may be useful to anyone writing a story about the uninsured:

• The number of people covered by private insurance continued to decline.
• The nation’s median household income rose by 1.3 percent in 2007, to $50,233, the third consecutive annual increase.
• The nation’s poverty rate remained flat at 12.5 percent.
• The rate of people without health insurance declined to 15.3 percent in 2007, from 15.8 percent a year earlier.

• The number of people under 18 without insurance dropped to 11 percent, or 8.1 million, in 2007, from 11.7 percent, or 8.7 million, a year earlier.

• Over all, the percentage of people covered by government programs rose to 27.8 percent in 2007 from 27 percent the year before.

• The percentage and number of people on Medicaid rose to 13.2 percent, or 39.6 million, in 2007, up from 12.9 percent, or 38.3 million, in 2006.

• Private health insurance fell, covering 67.5 percent of Americans in 2007, down from 67.9 percent in 2006. Employment-based coverage also continued its long decline in 2007, dropping to 59.3 percent from 59.7 percent.

• Women earned 78 cents for every $1 earned by men. But that is the highest percentage ever reported for women, when compared with men.

Study: Insured kids far more likely to get needed care

Uninsured children, especially those with chronic health needs, are more likely to postpone or skip needed care than children enrolled in the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicaid and other public insurance programs, according to a study released Aug. 14 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Based on the analysis of 2007 data from the National Center for Health Statistics, 41% of uninsured children with chronic health needs postponed or skipped needed care in 2007, compared with just 10% of insured children. Insured children also were more likely than uninsured children to visit the doctor in the past year (91% versus 69%) or receive a “well-child” check-up (77% versus 45%).

“SCHIP and Medicaid provide an important safety net for America’s families, especially for families with chronically ill children,” said RWJF President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D. About 10 million U.S. children have chronic illnesses, 3.6 million of whom are covered by SCHIP or Medicaid.

Study: Uninsured immigrant population on the rise

The number of uninsured immigrants in the U.S. increased from 6.9 million in 1994 to 12.3 million in 2006, an 80% increase, according to a study released Aug. 5 by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

The uninsured native-born population increased from 29.7 million to 34.1 million, a 15% increase over the same time period. As a result, immigrants accounted for more than half of the total increase in the uninsured population.

According to the study, nearly 60% of the uninsured immigrant population is concentrated in four states: California, Florida, New York and Texas.

Study: Third of uninsured suffer from chronic illness

Nearly a third (11.4 million) of uninsured U.S. adults age 18 to 64 suffer from at least one chronic condition, such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, active asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and previous cancer, according to a study in the Aug. 5th Annals of Internal Medicine. In addition, uninsured chronically ill individuals are less likely than those with insurance to have visited a physician in the past 12 months (22.6% vs. 6.2%) and are more likely to visit the emergency department for routine care (7.1% vs. 1.1%).

The authors said individuals without insurance face substantially higher health care costs than those with insurance. Furthermore, “Low-cost or free services, if available, may be at locations, times, or settings that discourage uptake,” they said. “These barriers lead to diminished access to care that negatively affects health-related outcomes, an effect that may be pronounced among individuals with chronic disease.”

CDC: 43.1 million Americans uninsured in 2007

An estimated 43.1 million Americans, 14.5% of the population, lacked health insurance when surveyed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2007. That’s down from 43.6 million, or 14.8%, in 2006, based on 2007 data released today from the CDC’s latest National Health Interview Survey.

However, there was no significant change in the percentage of people under 65 who were uninsured at the time of the interview. An estimated 53.9 million Americans had been uninsured for at least part of the prior year, and 30.6 million had been uninsured for more than a year.

Among the 20 largest states, the percentage uninsured at the time of the interview ranged from 5.8% in Massachusetts to 22.8% in Texas. The New England region had the lowest percentage of uninsured residents under age 65 (3.7% of children and 11% of adults), while the Southwest had the highest (18.2% of children and nearly 30% of adults).

More on the state and regional estimates can be found in a separate report.

Cities report growing demand for health services, coverage costs

Cities are struggling to meet the demand for health services as the number of uninsured increases, according to a new Families USA survey of mayors in 13 cities. Mayors in 11 cities reported that demand for health services had increased over the past year, resulting in hospital and emergency department crowding, while mayors in four cities reported hospital closings in their areas.

All 13 mayors said raising eligibility levels for Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program would ease some of the burden, and that addressing America’s health care crisis should be among the next president’s top five priorities. The mayors also reported spending a growing portion of their budgets on health coverage for city employees, affecting their ability to fulfill other municipal functions.

Study: Uninsured workers cost nation more than $44 billion a year

Uninsured workers and their dependents cost public health insurance programs $32.5 billion in 2004 and accounted for $12 billion in uncompensated care, according to a study released May 2 by the Commonwealth Fund. That’s up from $21.2 billion and $9.4 billion, respectively, in 1999, the study found.

About 10.8 million full-time workers and their family members were enrolled all year in public health insurance programs in 2004, up from 6.3 million in 1999, the authors note. The study used data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to estimate the cost to the public when employers do not insure their workers.

[ via AHA News Now ]

Study: Rise in unemployment would drive up uninsured

A 1 percentage point rise in the national unemployment rate would increase Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program enrollment by 1 million and cause the number of uninsured to grow by 1.1 million, according to a study released April 28 by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.

“As a new economic downturn unfolds, many states appear headed for serious budget shortfalls,” states the study, prepared by researchers at the Urban Institute. The states’ fiscal problems “warrant serious consideration as part of an ongoing national strategy to minimize the duration, severity and consequences of economic downturn,” the study adds.