Report reveals unhealthy gap in access to care between Americans who
have health coverage and those who do not
State-by-State
analysis shows wignificant disparities in every state; Uninsured
adults in West Virginia, Oregon, and Kentucky most likely to go
without needed care...'Cover the Uninsured Week' - Nationwide
Campaign Chaired by Presidents Ford and Carter - Kicks Off With
Support From 10 Former U.S. Health Secretaries and Surgeons General.
WASHINGTON, April 26 /PRNewswire/
-- A new report analyzing government data confirms that there is a
significant gap in the amount of health care accessed by people who
do and do not have health care coverage in every state and the
District of Columbia. Nationally, uninsured adults are nearly four
times more likely not to see a doctor when they need one compared to
people who have health coverage.
"The Coverage Gap: A
State-by-State Report on Access to Care" identifies the extent of
disparities in access to health care between insured and uninsured
Americans. The findings confirm that not receiving needed medical
care is taking a toll on the millions of Americans who do not have
health coverage. Across the nation, a far greater percentage of
uninsured adults report being in 'poor' or 'fair' health, compared
to adults who have insurance.
The report was released today by
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to kick off Cover the
Uninsured Week, a nonpartisan, nationwide effort to urge U.S.
leaders to make health coverage for Americans their top priority.
The report shows that the
uninsured not only miss needed medical care due to cost, but they
are also far more likely to miss important health screenings that
can detect cancer in its earliest, most treatable stages. Such
statistics are especially troubling for the uninsured population
that is older, when the need for such screenings dramatically
increases.
Countering popular opinion that
the uninsured are overwhelmingly young and healthy, the analysis
shows that an increasing number of Americans over age 50 are finding
themselves without health care coverage. According to the most
recent figures, about one in six adults age 50-64 are uninsured -- a
total of 7 million people. The most recent Census figures show that
nearly 46 million Americans have no health care coverage.
"This report gives a warning to
our state and national leaders by showing that our neighbors,
friends and relatives without health coverage live sicker, and will
likely die younger, than those who have insurance," said Risa
Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation. "When insured people get sick, they go to the
doctor and they get better. When women with insurance are in their
40s, they start getting mammograms regularly. But for people without
health coverage, it's a different world. They cannot access basic
care or diagnostic screenings because of the cost, so their minor
illnesses become major ones. Ultimately, they may require extensive
and expensive care because early care was delayed. Our nation's
leaders need to realize that this is penny-wise and pound foolish
and finally make health coverage for uninsured Americans their top
priority. The alternative is to continue to let the health of
millions of our citizens erode and let our health care system creep
closer to insolvency."
Some of the most influential
organizations in the country, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
and the AFL-CIO, are cosponsoring the Week, which occurs from May
1-7. Co-chaired by Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, the
effort is supported by 10 former U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services Secretaries and Surgeons General appointed by both
Republican and Democratic presidents.
An estimated 1,000 public events
will take place nationwide during Cover the Uninsured Week in every
state and the District of Columbia. Activities are designed to
encourage people to express their concern by instantly contacting a
member of Congress through the campaign Web site,
http://www.covertheuninsured.org/.
Event organizers will help enroll eligible adults and children in
low-cost or free coverage programs, provide basic care and medical
screenings, focus on the efforts of large and small businesses to
provide health coverage, galvanize students on college campuses and
engage faith communities in speaking out about the need for
solutions.
"I have worked in health care and
health policy long enough to know that usually Congress won't act
until the people do," said Louis Sullivan, M.D., secretary of the
HHS under President George H.W. Bush. "We need millions of Americans
to call for change in order to get real action from Washington.
Cover the Uninsured Week helps us understand how serious it is to
live without health coverage, and underscores the terrible
consequences this problem puts on families, individuals, employers
and the effectiveness of our health care system. Our leaders need to
rise above politics and finally address this long- standing
problem."
The report released today was
prepared for RWJF by researchers at the State Health Access Data
Assistance Center, located at the University of Minnesota. Findings
include:
Uninsured adults are unable to see
a doctor and get medical care when needed.
Nationally, 41 percent of
uninsured adults age 18-64 report being unable to see a doctor when
needed in the past 12 months, due to cost, compared to just nine
percent of adults who have health care coverage.
Disparities in access exist in
every state between insured and uninsured residents.
States where the most uninsured
adults report not being able to see a doctor when needed due to cost
are West Virginia (57%), Oregon (56%), Kentucky (54%), Washington
(48%) and Maryland (47%). States where the fewest uninsured adults
report not being able to see a doctor when needed due to cost are
North Dakota (24%), Montana (32%), Wisconsin (33%), Nebraska (33%)
and Massachusetts (34%).
Uninsured adults are much less
likely to have a personal doctor or health care provider.
Nationally, 57 percent of adults
without health care coverage say they do not have a personal doctor
or health care provider, compared with just 16 percent of people
with health care coverage.
Adults who are uninsured are much
more likely to report being in 'poor' or 'fair' health.
Nationally, the percentage of
uninsured adults who say their health is 'fair' or 'poor' is nearly
twice as high as adults with health coverage (23 percent vs. 12
percent).
Uninsured adults are less likely
to receive screenings to detect cancer than adults with coverage.
Adults with health coverage are
far more likely to have received recommended cancer screenings.
Women with health coverage age 40-64, for example, are more than
twice as likely to have had a mammogram within the past two years as
are uninsured women (51% of insured women vs. 23% of uninsured
women). States with the largest percentage of uninsured women not
receiving mammograms in the past two years are Missouri (68%), Idaho
(66%), North Dakota (64%), Oregon (63%), Utah (61%) and Oklahoma
(61%).
The number of Americans over age
50 without health coverage is increasing.
About 7 million Americans age
50-64 are uninsured, an increase of more than 2.6 million over 10
years. The percentage of uninsured Americans age 50- 64 has
increased from about 13 percent to nearly 15 percent from 1994 to
2004. Although 40 percent of adults age 50-64 without health
insurance live in the South, the number of uninsured adults over age
50 in the Midwest is significantly increasing. The Midwest has more
than 1.3 million uninsured adults age 50-64, an increase of nearly
535,000 in 10 years.
The analysis of health disparities
between insured and uninsured adults uses data from the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention's 2004 Behavioral Risk Factor
Surveillance System Survey (BRFSS). The BRFSS is a national
telephone survey of preventive and health risk behaviors. It is
administered in all 50 states and D.C. to adults ages 18 and over.
The analysis of the number of Americans age 50-64 without coverage
uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey from
1994, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2004 and 2005.
Organizations sponsoring Cover the
Uninsured Week include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, AFL-CIO,
Healthcare Leadership Council, AARP, United Way of America, American
Medical Association, National Medical Association, American Nurses
Association, Families USA, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association,
America's Health Insurance Plans, American Hospital Association,
Federation of American Hospitals, Catholic Health Association of the
United States, Service Employees International Union, National
Alliance for Hispanic Health, The California Endowment, W.K. Kellogg
Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
To view the state-by-state
research report, send a message to Congress, locate Cover the
Uninsured Week activities or find information in English or Spanish,
log on to
http://www.covertheuninsured.org/.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our
country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to
improving the health and health care of all Americans, the
Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and
individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive,
meaningful and timely change. For more than 30 years the Foundation
has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced
approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of
those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier
lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a
difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit
http://www.rwjf.org/.
Source:
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation