Current Population Reports
On August 29, the Census Bureau released its annual Current
Population Survey (CPS) on poverty and health insurance
coverage for 2005. There was a statistically significant
growth in the uninsurance rate from 15.6 percent in 2004 to
15.9 percent in 2005. An additional 1.3 million individuals
were without health insurance, raising the number of uninsured
Americans to 46.6 million.
The data indicate a continuing trend in the further erosion
of the private insurance market, but unlike the previous year
when there was subsequent growth in the public coverage
programs to absorb the newly uninsured, in 2005 public
coverage remained unchanged. A critical departure from
previous increases in the uninsured is that, in 2005, there
was an increase of 300,000 uninsured children, reversing the
small gain in coverage among children between 2000 and
2004.
Overall, the percentage of citizens covered by private
insurance dropped to 67.7 percent (down from 68.2 percent)
with the employer-sponsored coverage (ESI) rate dropping to
59.5 percent (down from 59.8 percent). In 2000, 71.9 percent
of the population was covered by private insurance. The
continued reduction of private coverage remains a vital
concern for state policymakers.
Although there was an increase in the number of people
covered by government sponsored programs in 2005, the
percentage of people enrolled remained stable at 27.3 percent.
According to 2005 data, 80.2 million people were covered by a
government coverage program. More specifically:
- Medicare enrollment marginally increased from 13.6
percent to 13.7 percent, but the increase was not
statistically significant;
- Medicaid enrollment remained steady at 13 percent;
and
- Coverage through military programs grew from 3.7 percent
to 3.8 percent but, again, the change was not statistically
significant.
State-Level Uninsurance Information: Thirty-nine
states plus the District of Columbia did not experience
statistically significant changes in their respective
uninsurance rates between 2003–2004 and 2004–2005. Highlights
of state-level data for the 2004–2005 two-year period
include:
- Texas still has the highest uninsured rate at 24.5
percent.
- Minnesota has the lowest uninsurance rate at 8.7
percent.
- Three states (ID, IA, and NY) experienced statistically
significant reductions in their uninsurance rates.
- Eight states (AZ, CA, DE, FL, GA, SC, UT, and VT)
experienced statistically significant increases in their
uninsurance rates.
- Regionally, the Midwest has the lowest uninsurance rate
overall (11.9 percent) followed by New England (12.3
percent), the West (18.1 percent), and the South (18.6
percent).
Kaiser and HRET Release Employer Health Benefits
Survey
The Kaiser Family Foundation and the
Health Research and Educational Trust recently released their
2006
Annual Employer Health Benefits Survey, an in-depth look
at trends in health insurance costs and coverage in the
workplace.
The survey showed that private health
insurance premiums for family coverage rose 7.7 percent from
spring 2005 to spring 2006, marking the third consecutive year
of declining growth in insurance premiums costs (recent growth
had peaked at 13.9 percent in 2003). Although the decline in
insurance premium growth is encouraging, average family
premiums still rose faster than increases in both inflation
(3.5 percent) and workers’ earnings (3.8 percent).
The
number of small firms offering health benefits has been
continually declining since the beginning of the decade, with
only 59 percent of firms with 3–199 employees offering
coverage in 2005, down from 68 percent offering in 2000.
Although the average percentage of employee
contributions to premiums has remained relatively stable over
the past five years at 26 percent for family coverage ($2,973
toward an average annual cost of $11, 480) and 16 percent for
single coverage ($627 of the $4,242 annual average total),
employee cost- sharing amounts continue to increase. However,
workers in small firms (3-199 workers) contribute
significantly more to premiums ($3,550 annually) than do
workers for larger firms ($2,658) primarily reflecting lower
employer contributions in smaller firms.
The telephone
survey included 2,122 randomly selected public and private
firms with three or more employees. In addition to documenting
premium changes, the survey describes employer cost-sharing
mechanisms, including those related to prescription drugs and
hospital care, workers’ contribution to the cost of coverage,
the types of insurance that employers are offering, and the
prevalence of consumer-directed health plans.
