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Texas again leads the nation in the percentage of residents without health insurance according to U.S. Census Bureau figures released last week. Enrollment in Medicaid and various states Childrens Health Insurance Programs (CHIP) has grown but has barely put a dent in the rate. John Goodman President CEO and the Kellye Wright Fellow of the
National Center for Policy Analysis said the percentage of the U.S. population lacking insurance has been stuck at about 15 percent over the past decade.
As we have expanded free government-provided insurance in the public sector the private sector has contracted because employers find that their employees would rather have wages if they can sign up for free coverage from the government Goodman said. So the Medicaid program and the S-CHIP program are crowding out private insurance. We keep adding to the taxpayer burden but were not reducing the percent of the population thats uninsured.
The Census Bureau said:
- The survey doesnt pinpoint whether people are in the country illegally although it showed that 21 percent of the nations 46.3 million uninsured people last year were noncitizens both legal and illegal.
- In Texas 1.56 million of the states 6 million uninsured people -- or 26 percent -- were noncitizens.
- In New York and California two other states with large immigrant populations illegal aliens accounted for 26.4 percent and 37.3 percent respectively of people without health coverage.
- California still has the highest number -- not percentage - of uninsured residents; it had 6.7 million uninsured people about 700000 more than Texas in a two-year average ending last year.
- But Texas had more uninsured children under 18 -- more than 1.2 million last year compared with 998000 in California.
- Once again Texas had the nations highest percentage of children under 18 without coverage -- 17.9 percent; nationwide the percentage was 9.9 percent.
Goodman said none of this is surprising.
We have a large low-income population we have a large Hispanic population he said. It tends to be true that at every level of income the Hispanics have a higher rate of uninsurance.
Goodman said many lower-wage workers are uninsured for only brief periods. They would be best helped with tax breaks on their individual health insurance premiums similar to those for workers who get coverage through their jobs he said.
He warned that penalties for employers who dont cover their low-wage workers -- proposed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus D-Mont. -- would discourage hiring and needlessly prolong the recession.
More than one of every four Texans -- 25.1 percent -- were uninsured based on a two-year average for 2007-08.
Thats up from 24.1 percent for 2005 and 2006 although analysts agreed the recession hit Texas late holding down what could have been a bigger increase says the Dallas Morning News.
Source: Robert T. Garrett 25.1 of Texans uninsured Census report finds Dallas Morning News September 11 2009.
For text:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-census_11tex.ART.State.Edition2.4bb905d.html
