PROVIDENCE – The number of Rhode Islanders under the age of 65 lacking health insurance increased by 8,000 in 2009-2010, according to The Poverty Institute’s analysis of the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures.
Roughly 119,000 – one out of eight Rhode Islanders – had no health coverage in 2009-2010, according to Jennifer Leigh, the Poverty Institute’s communications director.
Yet, the state’s RIte Care and RIte Share programs for children and parents may have prevented the number of uninsured from growing even larger.
Analysis of the data by Rhode Island Kids Count showed that 6.3 percent of Rhode Island’s children under 18 were uninsured during the three year period from 2008-2010, placing Rhode Island 13th best in the nation in health insurance coverage for children under 18.
Rhode Island joined the five other New England states ranked in the top 13 states with the best health insurance coverage for children under 18 during 2008-2010: Massachusetts and Hawaii tied for first, at 3.3 percent uninsured; New Hampshire was third at 4.2 percent uninsured; Maine was fifth at 4.7 percent uninsured; and Connecticut was 11th at 5.9 percent uninsured.
By comparison, during 2008-2010, Texas was ranked last at 16.7 percent uninsured, next-to-last was Nevada at 16.3 percent uninsured, and Florida was third to last, at 16 percent uninsured.
“The data released today show the success of RIte Care and Medicaid in protecting children’s health when families do not have access to affordable health insurance through their employer,” said Elizabeth Burke Bryant, executive director of Rhode Island Kids Count. “For many Rhode Island families, the loss of a job means the loss of employer-sponsored health insurance coverage. We are fortunate that RIte Care is available to help ensure that children have the health coverage they need to keep them healthy.”
The decrease in employer-sponsored insurance is the primary cause for the shrinking number of Rhode Islanders without health coverage, according to the Poverty Institute. Sixty-four percent of Rhode Islanders had employer-provided coverage in 2009-2010, down from 68 percent in 2007-2008.
The 4 percent decline is not surprising, The Poverty Institute said, considering Rhode Island’s average unemployment rate rose from 9.3 to 11.3 percent during comparable time periods.
Nationally, 48.7 million people under 65, or 18.3 percent of the population, had no health insurance in 2009-2010, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
There is a large disparity in outcomes as a result of children who have health insurance, and those who are uninsured, according to Bryant. Insured children are more likely to receive preventive care, be screened for developmental milestones, miss fewer days of school, and get medical treatment for common illnesses, chronic conditions and emergencies. Uninsured children are less likely to have a usual place for health care than children with coverage, and they have fewer visits to doctors and dentists. Further, uninsured children and adults are more likely to have costly hospitalizations and emergency room visits that could have been prevented with access to standard health care.
An average of 14,333 children under 18 in Rhode Island were uninsured between 2008 and 2010. In turn, during that same time period, an average of 139,333 children under 18 in Rhode Island were covered by private health insurance, and an average of 84,647 children under 18 were covered by RIte Care, Medicare, Medicaid and military insurance.
“As Rhode Island moves forward with the implementation of the federal Affordable Care Act, it is important to maintain and build upon effective programs, like RIte Care, that provide access to health care for Rhode Island’s children and families,” said Bryant. “Congressional leaders also have an important role to play in ensuring that Medicaid continues to provide a safety net to our most vulnerable children.”
