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Number Without Health Insurance Grew in '04

Posted on: Wednesday, 31 August 2005, 21:01 CDT

Aug. 31--The number of people without health insurance in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and across the nation increased for the fourth consecutive year in 2004, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

While a decline in employer-based health insurance was somewhat offset by an increase in people with government coverage, the nation's uninsured increased by more than 800,000, to 45.8 million.

Still, the rate of people without insurance held steady at 15.7 percent as the population grew and two million people were added to health-insurance rolls.

"The stabilization in the overall coverage rate can be explained by an increase in government coverage - notably Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program - that offset a decline in employment-based coverage," said Charles Nelson, assistant chief of the Census Bureau's Housing and Household Economic Statistics division.

The growing reliance on Medicaid comes as the federal government seeks to reduce its funding of the program.

"Congress is going back into session armed to cut Medicaid, which is the one thing that is saving people all over the country," said Shelly Yanoff, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth.

In the Philadelphia region, the rising number of uninsured people has been felt by the health delivery system - from hospitals to community-based clinics.

"About 37 to 40 percent of our patients are uninsured, and that has grown over the last several years," said Donna Torrisi, director of the Family Practice and Counseling Network, which operates four nurse-managed health centers in Philadelphia. "It is very hard, because these patients often need medication, they need x-rays, they need referrals to specialists, and sometimes they need to be hospitalized."

In Pennsylvania, 1.45 million people lacked health-care coverage last year. That was a relatively low 11.9 percent of state residents. New Jersey had 1.32 million uninsured people, or 15.3 percent of state residents - close to the 15.7 percent national rate.

"The increase is chronic and of great concern because it puts added strain on the delivery system," said Ron Czajkowski, a spokesman for the New Jersey Hospital Association.

Hospitals in New Jersey provided $812 million in uncompensated care in 2004. The state covered $583 million of those costs, Czajkowski said.

Acute-care hospitals in Southeastern Pennsylvania provided more than $200 million in uncompensated care in the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2004, according to an analysis of data from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council.

"People without insurance are more likely to delay seeking care, hence their conditions worsen and they end up receiving care through the emergency room at much greater cost," said Andrew Wigglesworth, president of the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council, which represents area hospitals. "Uncompensated care provided to the uninsured is one of many challenges that threaten the viability of hospitals in our region."

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Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

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