Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to
present the 2007 edition of the Nevada Study of
Uninsured Populations covering the period 1998
-2006. We invite
you to review the raw data and the Estimates and
Trends presented here. The
Tables & Figures
will reflect that 17.1% or approximately 450,000
people had no insurance any part of the year.
As we reviewed this report, several highlights are
important to point out. One is the
definition
used that "any coverage during a year means you
are insured." That means a person
must be without health coverage for an entire year
to be deemed uninsured, thus these numbers are in
fact significantly less than the actual number of
people who are uninsured at any given time.
This number is closer to 20%-21% as
reported for Nevada in national studies.
However, the
study's numbers are important as they show the
nine-year trend and Nevada's uninsured rate is still
considerably higher than most of the nation and the
national number is higher than ever before.
The graph for
Medicaid Coverage - Nevada versus the US is
the height of embarrassment for our state. As seen
in the diagram, the national average paints a dreary
picture, and Nevada’s depiction is even worse.
Moreover, the Governor's budget doesn't even begin
to close this gap, and the legislature has very few
bills addressing Medicaid’s inadequacies. And, why
is there is a considerable difference between the
people who have access to health care plans and the
people who actually use them? Answers to that
question might point us towards a few steps leading
to solutions. While outreach programs work
diligently to assist qualified applicants to
navigate the Medicaid and Nevada Check-Up systems,
many eligible residents still have not signed up.
No doubt, simplification of the 17-page Medicaid
Application would be a start,
as an
online interactive application would
tremendously decrease
Nevada's enrollment challenges.
Our sister states Arizona, Oregon and California,
among others across the nation, have accomplished
this. After all, in today's world of advanced
technology - we can do this.
It is nothing new in reporting that Hispanics are
three times more likely to be uninsured than
non-Hispanic white people - and their numbers are
increasing every year, which you can see on the
graphs of the
population trends and
uninsured demographics.
We still do not have adequate policies or programs
to change that in Nevada, so it is
time to articulate a plan for
closing the insurance gap with Hispanics. Well
over 50% of the patients served by Nevada's
Community Health Centers, are of Hispanic ethnicity.
There are far too few Community Health Centers in
our state. We need more and we need to support
and expand
the ones we have.
Great Basin Primary Care Association's AccessHealth
Program, a pilot in Clark County, has created a
network of providers for uninsured members to
receive significant discounts for medical services.
Over 90% of the program's members are Hispanic.
This pilot program can not expand to meet the
demanding growth of our
underserved without an influx in resources.
There are other safety-net providers and
stakeholders across our state working to affect this
gap, and it will take all of us.
Unemployed people are more likely to
be uninsured unless they qualify for
Medicaid; however, we find that the
percent
unemployed in Nevada is consistently lower than
the U.S. and has been trending downward. However, being employed no longer
guarantees having a health care
plan. In 2005, 71% of all United States firms
offered health care, but
only 52% of
employees participated, perhaps due to
higher premiums and co-pays. The type of job matters
– white collar and blue collar workers follow the
U.S. pattern, but only 45% of service workers were
offered health care coverage in 2005 and only 27%
participated. Nevada has a
high percentage of service workers.
The size of the firm matters – 59% of
firms with 1to 99 workers offered health care
versus 84% of firms with 100 or more
workers and over 94% of all
business establishments in Nevada are even
smaller, having 1 to 49 employees.
We want to continue working together in best efforts
as we meet these challenges. Together, we can
build local health care systems that offer both the
finest in quality health care to everyone who needs
it.
In the world's wealthiest nation, every man,
woman, and child should receive nothing less.
Patricia
Durbin, Executive Director
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