More than one-third of adults did not have coverage at some point in past 12 months
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Jan. 13, 2014) — The number of Kentucky adults without health insurance coverage currently, or at some point in the past 12 months (33 percent), is on the decline while the number of working adults insured through their employer, or their spouse’s employer, is on the rise (44 percent). Those are among the findings in the latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll (KHIP).
“This data gives us a snapshot of the health insurance situation for Kentucky adults, prior to Medicaid expansion and the start of coverage purchased through Kynect,” said Susan Zepeda, president and CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. “KHIP data also show a link between income and insurance coverage. Kentucky adults who earn more are much more likely to have health insurance, which can be a key factor in obtaining timely healthcare treatment and preventive services.”
In late 2013, more than three in 10 (34 percent) of those with incomes at or below 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) were currently uninsured. That statistic remains 34 percent for Kentucky adults who earn up to 200 percent of the FPL while just one in 10 (10 percent) of those with incomes above 200 percent of the FPL report being uninsured.
Other KHIP highlights include:
♦ More than 4 in 10 (44 percent) indicated they were insured through their employer or their spouse’s employer, up from 37 percent in the last KHIP.
♦ One-third (33 percent) indicated they had been uninsured at some point in the past 12 months, down from (41 percent) in the last KHIP.
♦ Two in 10 (20 percent) were covered by some form of public insurance. That’s double the percentage (10 percent) covered by public insurance in 2008.
Because 99 percent of seniors have some form of health coverage, this report focuses only on working age adults (ages 18-64).
The KHIP was funded by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky and Interact for Health, formerly the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati. The poll was conducted Oct. 25 through Nov. 26, by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati. A random sample of 1,551 adults from throughout Kentucky was interviewed by telephone, including landlines and cell phones. The poll has a margin of error of ±2.3 percent.
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