How Many Americans And Arkansans Lack Health Insurance?
AMERICANS: The majority of Americans (62%) under the age of 65 receive health insurance coverage through their employers and almost all of the elderly are covered through Medicare—Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) cover millions of nonelderly low-income people, especially children
In 2000, approximately 39.6 million Americans did not have health insurance and by 2004, that number had climbed to approximately 45.5 million Americans—Now more than one in six of the nonelderly population is uninsured (18%)
Depending upon whether one counts the number of people who are uninsured during a specific month, for an entire year, or just for short periods, experts agree that on any given day of the year the number of uninsured is now about 45 million—the number of people ever uninsured over the course of a year is much greater than 45 million, by as much as 40%
ARKANSANS: —In 2001, approximately 392,000 Arkansans did not have health insurance, i.e., 15% of the population—However, by 2004 approximately 456,000 Arkansans did not have health insurance, i.e., 17% of the population
Through federal, state and private programs, approximately 9 out of 10 (89.6%) Arkansas children (0-18 years) have health insurance, and more than half of all children received coverage from the state’s Medicaid program, ARKids First, in 2004
Medicare covered virtually all (98.5%) elderly (65+ years) Arkansas adults in 2004
However, only 3 out of 4 (75.6%) working-age (19-64) adults had insurance in 2004
In Arkansas in 2004, estimates of uninsurance rates ranged from a high of 23% in the north central mountain counties to a low of 6% of residents in central Arkansas ( Pulaski County) —however, because of Pulaski County ’s large urban population, many thousands of our neighbors have no health insurance, and thus little or no access to basic health care
Who Are Our Uninsured Neighbors?
EMPLOYMENT: In 2004 the majority (61%) of the uninsured were working in either full-time (45%) or part-time (16%) jobs—Nationwide in 2003, over 8 in 10 uninsureds came from working families, 70% from families with one or more full-time workers and 12% from families with part-time workers (only 19% of the uninsured are from families that have no connection to the workforce)
In Arkansas, 92.9% of private employers with 50 or more employees offered health insurance—however, only 25.7% of businesses with less than 50 employees offered health insurance—When Arkansas employers offered health insurance benefits to their employees, most (78%) employees purchase it
EARNINGS: In 2004 more than one-fourth (26%) of Arkansans with family incomes below $19,000 (100% of the federal poverty level [“FPL”] for a family of 4) did not have health insurance coverage—the same (26%) was true for Arkansas families who earned between $19,000 and $38,000 (100-200% of the FPL for a family of 4)—significantly, more than half of all Arkansas families make less than $35,000 annually
In Arkansas, children in low-income families (<200% FPL) qualify for Medicaid (ARKids First) and most of these children are insured—however, low-income working-age adults do not qualify for Medicaid unless they are also disabled and have limited financial assets—almost one-half (46%) of Arkansans between 19 and 64 years of age with family incomes less than 100% of the FPL were uninsured in 2004
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT: Nationally, adults who have not graduated from high school are about twice as likely to be uninsured as those with a high school diploma (40.2% vs. 20.3%)—Having a college degree is strongly associated with multiple factors that increase the likelihood of being insured, such as employment in sectors more likely to offer coverage, higher income, and a greater likelihood of choosing employment-based coverage if it is offered—Significantly, Arkansas has the lowest percentage of residents possessing college degrees than any other state in the nation
GENDER AND AGE: Among Arkansans without health insurance, approximately 50% were males and 50% were females—10% of uninsured Arkansans were between 0-18 years old, 30% were between 19-44 years old, 17% were between 45-64 years old, and 2% were 65 years or older
ETHNICITY: In 2004, 15% of White Arkansans had no health insurance, 17% of African-American Arkansans had no health insurance, 39% of Hispanic Arkansans had no health insurance, and 22% of Arkansans who are members of other ethnic groups had no health insurance
Within virtually all ethnic groups in Arkansas in 2004, the uninsured were concentrated in the 19-64 year-old age group—specifically, 1 out of 5 (20%) Whites, 1 out of 4 (25%) African-Americans, and 1 out of 2 (49%) Hispanics in the 19-64 year old age group did not have health insurance
IMMIGRATION STATUS AND NATIVITY: The foreign born population in the United States is almost three times as likely to be uninsured as the native born population—Among the foreign born, citizens are almost twice as likely as non-citizens to have health insurance—With exceptions, i.e., those needing emergency care and refugees, all legal immigrants who arrive in the U.S. after August 1996 are barred from participation in public health insurance programs (Medicaid and SCHIP) for their first five years of residency in the country, and this prohibition adds to the discrepancy in insurance rates between the native and foreign-born populations. Needless to say, undocumented adults and children present in this country also suffer from insufficient access to decent health care.
