Friday, September 29, 2000
Uninsured increase in Ohio, drop nationwide
By Tim Bonfield
The Cincinnati Enquirer
For the first time in 12 years, the number of uninsured people in America has gone down.
Officials credit the improvement to the nation's strong economy. But much of the Midwest, including Greater Cincinnati, did not report improvement, even though the area has enjoyed economic good times.
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THE UNINSURED
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New figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, released Thursday, indicate that the Midwest has missed out on recent reductions in the ranks of the uninsured:
• Nationally, the number of uninsured Americans dropped for the first time in 12 years from 44.3 million in 1998 to 42.6 million in 1999.
• Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana all have lower rates of uninsured people than the U.S. average of 15.5 percent, but the rates went up last year for Ohio and Kentucky.
• The states with the highest rates of uninsured (all above 20 percent) are New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, Nevada and California.
• The states with the lowest rates of uninsured (all less than 10 percent) are Rhode Island, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.
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Figures released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau show the ranks of the uninsured declined by 1.7 million from 1998 to 1999, from 44.3 million to 42.6 million. It was the first year-to-year decline since 1987, when the Census Bureau started tracking the number.
“The driving force behind this improvement was an increase in the likelihood of people having employment-based health insurance,” said Robert Mills, author of the report, Health Insurance Coverage: 1999.
Nationwide, the uninsured rate dropped from 16.3 percent to 15.5 percent from 1998 to 1999, as 35 states reported reductions in their uninsured populations. But Ohio and Kentucky were among the 15 states that did worse.
In Ohio, the percentage of uninsured people went up from 10.4 percent to 11 percent. In Kentucky, the rate went up from 14.1 percent to 14.5 percent. In Indiana, the rate went down from 14.4 percent to 10.8 percent.
The Midwest was the only region of America where more people were uninsured in 1999 than 1998, according to the census report.
The statistics come as no surprise to Randy Garland, president and chief executive of the Cincinnati Health Network, an agency that includes several health clinics that serve the uninsured.
“We've been hit with drastic increases in uninsured patients over the past four years. But it is starting to level off; 1999 was the first year in 10 years where our percentage of uninsured patients didn't go up.”
For Ohio, the uninsured picture is a mix of good news and bad. Other states may have been quicker than Ohio in recent years to expand eligibility to Medicaid and to special childhood health insurance programs. But most other states also have a more severe uninsured problem than Ohio, Mr. Garland said.
America's uninsured population has been argued about on Capitol Hill for years but has played a minor role in the 2000 presidential campaign. Thursday's report did little to settle the debate, as both health-care reform advocates and insurance industry supporters claimed the report backs up their positions.
Chip Kahn, president of the Health Insurance Association of America, said that the data proved that “a private, employer-based system works.”
He cited figures showing that since 1993, the number of people covered under employment-based policies increased from 148 million to 172 million.
But Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a Washington-based consumer group, said the report shows that 32.4 percent of people living below the poverty line remained uninsured — along with 47.5 percent of low-income, full-time workers.
“Many people lost health coverage when they moved from welfare into entry-level jobs that have no health benefits,” Mr. Pollack said.
In Ohio, next year's statistics should begin to reflect some improvements flowing from policy changes made this year, Mr. Garland said.
In July, the state:
• Increased eligibility for the state child health insurance program to 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
• Allowed 19-year-olds to be covered.
• Made uninsured parents eligible for coverage for the first time.
This month, the Cincinnati Health Network was among a coalition of Tristate agencies that won a large federal grant to coordinate care for the uninsured. Sponsors hope that project will make it easier to link uninsured people to coverage they never knew they could get.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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