A Sad Number: 1.5 million Ohioans among the uninsured

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1.5 million Ohioans among the uninsured
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State Medicaid rolls rose 250,000 in last two years
Tuesday, March 8, 2011  02:55 AM
By Suzanne Hoholik

More Ohioans are uninsured, fewer businesses offer health benefits to workers and almost 250,000 people joined the state Medicaid rolls from 2008 to 2010, according to a survey released yesterday.

The 2010 Ohio Family Health Survey found that the number of uninsured grew by almost 160,000 - including 15,283 children - during the two-year period.

In all, there are about 1.5 million uninsured Ohioans.

"These are preliminary numbers. They raise more questions than they answer at this point," said William Hayes, an adjunct assistant professor at Ohio State University's College of Public Health.

The survey also found that being uninsured is the second-largest category of health-coverage status, behind employer-sponsored health plans, for working adults 18 to 64 years old.

The random telephone survey was conducted from August to October and involved 8,276 adults and 2,002 proxy responses for children. It included questions about employment, health-insurance status and lifestyle choices, such as smoking and alcohol consumption. The survey was conducted by health-policy experts from Ohio and neighboring states.

Even though economists declared that the recession ended 16 months ago, about 63,000 Ohioans lost their jobs between 2009 and 2010.

Contributing to the growing number of uninsured is the decision by more employers to drop insurance for their employees.

The survey found that the number of workers receiving employer health coverage dropped 6 percent from 2008 to 2010.

"Traditionally, we've relied on employer-sponsored coverage for most Ohioans, but employer-based coverage is declining continuously and that leaves us with a limited number of choices," said Cathy Levine, executive director of Universal Health Care Action Network of Ohio.

"All I can say is, it's a good thing the Affordable Care Act will expand coverage in 2014, otherwise the future would look even more bleak for Ohioans who lack" coverage.

Under federal health reform, Medicaid will be expanded and people will be required to have health insurance by 2014.

Many businesses that still provide health insurance for workers are passing on higher premiums, deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses.

A national survey of employers by the Kaiser Family Foundation released in the fall found that although health insurers passed a 3percent increase in premiums along to employers, workers at those companies faced an average 14 percent increase.

The Ohio survey results come as Gov. John Kasich is to give his State of the State address today and reveal his two-year budget to the General Assembly next week.

"It's important to have data to make good public-policy decisions," Hayes said.