Nation & World News
Dwindling health coverage
leaves 43 million uninsured
Eighteen to 24-yearolds
are the least likely to have
health insurance, according
to a new census report
By Bruce Japsen
Chicago Tribune (KRT)
CHICAGO — The number of
Americans without health insurance
rose in 2002 for the second consecu
tive year as more workers lost jobs and
many who remained employed lost
medical coverage, a new report says.
The ranks of the uninsured rose
to 43.6 million; an increase of 2.4
million from 2001, according to a
U.S. Census Bureau report sched
uled to be released on Tuesday.
That meant 15.2 percent of the U.S.
population had no health insur
ance last year, compared with 14.6
percent in 2001.
1 he national trend is particularly
troubling for workers, who are shoul
dering more of the cost of health care
as employers look for ways to reduce
expenses and improve their bottom
lines in a slow economy.
With job cuts affecting nearly all
industries last year, it was only natu
ral that the number of uninsured
would rise. Without a surge in hir
ing, health benefits expired for
many out-of-work Americans.
But even those who kept their
jobs lost health insurance at an un
precedented pace. The percentage of
people covered by employer-based
health insurance dropped to 61.3
percent from 62.6 percent in 2001,
the Census Bureau report says.
"This is a reflection of a reces
sion," said Robert Mills, lead author
of the report on the uninsured and a
survey statistician for the Census Bu
reau. "We are seeing that the most
obvious reason for the drop in the
insured rate is the drop in rate of
people covered by employment
based plans."
By comparison, census officials
said employers enriched health bene
fits during the late 1990s when un
employment was low, corporate prof
its were high and stock prices soared
in an unprecedented bull market.
"We had seen a significant in
crease in the overall coverage rate to
mirror the economic period of the
late 1990s," Mills said.
Eighteen- to 24-year-olds were
the least likely of any age group to
have health insurance in 2002.
Nearly 30 percent of this group did
n't have coverage.
The rate of Hispanics who were
uninsured was higher than any other
racial or ethnic group at 32.4 percent,
or 12.7 million Hispanics, the report
says. The rate for Hispanics was largely
unchanged from 2001.
"There doesn't seem to be an end
in sight to this," said Katie Barnick
el, spokeswoman for Access to Care,
a Westchester, Ill -based group that
tries to link uninsured residents in
suburban Cook County to low-cost
medical services. "Seventy percent of
our clients are working and do not
have benefits."
Access to Care and other medical
care providers fear that the increas
ing number of uninsured Ameri
cans will further stress the existing
health-care safety net, making it
more difficult for such groups to
provide benefits.
Access to Care has had to put
more than 3,000 people on a wait
ing list that will keep those on the
list from benefits for at least a year.
"We have never had this many
people on the waiting list, ever," Bar
nickel said.
Access to Care lets patients pay $5
for certain doctor's office visits, $5 for
basic lab tests and X-rays and $ 10 to
$30 for certain prescription drugs.
Last year, the group helped more than
13,000 people.
"There is an increasing need out
there, and we are unable to fill that
need," Bamickel said.
Given the increasing plight of the
uninsured, key lawmakers in Wash
ington said Congress needs to give
the issue the same attention as the
proposal to add a prescription drug
benefit to the Medicare health insur
ance program for the elderly.
"For the uninsured, health care of
ten is catch as catch can," said Sen.
Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman
of the Senate Finance Committee,
which oversees financing of health
care issues. "That's no way to live."
Congress needs to show the
same commitment to addressing
this problem as it has to delivering a
prescription drug benefit in
Medicare. There's no one-size-fits-all
solution, so we have to look at a lot
of different initiatives."
But federal and state officials face
the challenge of crafting a solution in
the face of a troubled economy that
continues to create more demand for
government health services.
In fact, the census report said, the
percentage of Americans covered by
government health insurance pro
grams rose to 25.7 in 2002 percent
from 25.3 percent in 2001, largely
as the result of increased demand
for services from Medicaid health
insurance program for the poor.
(c) 2003, Chicago tribune. Distributed
by Knight Ridder/Tribune information
Services.
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