More Americans Left Uninsured for Health 

KIM NORRIS / Detroit Free Press 31aug2005

Nearly 1 million people joined the ranks of the uninsured in 2004 and more would have if not for government health insurance programs picking up where the nation's employers left off.

The percentage of people without health insurance in 2004 remained unchanged at 15.7%, even as the actual number of uninsured people rose by 800,000, to 45.8 million people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which released its annual survey on health insurance coverage Tuesday as part of a larger report that includes statistics on incomes and poverty.

In Michigan, the number of uninsured rose by 76,000 to 1.156 million people, or 11.6% of the population. It is not a coincidence that Michigan's economy has been lagging and its unemployment rate among the nation's highest. Often people who lose their jobs lose their health coverage.

The Koch family became statistics this year when they dropped coverage for themselves and their four children. Jeff Koch's machinery warehouse business — dependant on Michigan's struggling auto industry — has been particularly hard hit this year, straining the family's finances.

When the cost of health insurance, already $7,400 a year, was about to increase another $1,200, the Waterford couple decided to go without coverage for the first time.

"Money's just getting tight and something had to go." Jeff Koch said. "And insurance is one of the easiest things when you compare it to electricity and phone and mortgage."

While he is comfortable that he could handle doctor bills for minor ailments and the occasional broken bone, he worries that a major event that puts him or a family member in the hospital could push them into bankruptcy.

"It makes me nervous every day," he said. "The stuff I do is very dangerous. I'm moving 50,000-pound machines ... It would only take one slip or one chain link to break ... "

Kim Koch, who shops for the family's insurance policies, says she has considered getting a job just for the health benefits. But few jobs provide coverage to part-time workers and she doesn't want to work full time.

The percentage of people covered by employer-based insurance dropped from 60.4% in 2003 to 59.8% in 2004. The trend was reflected in Michigan, where it fell from 69%, or 6.84 million people, to 67.5%, or 6.73 million.

The decline in employer coverage was offset by an increase in people covered by government programs, specifically Medicaid, indicating that the health insurance program funded by state and federal governments is picking up the slack, said Kathleen Stoll, health policy director for Families USA, a nonprofit advocacy group.

"We would have seen a lot more uninsured if we didn't have that Medicaid safety net out there," she said.

But Congress' intention to eliminate $10 billion from the Medicaid budget is likely to exacerbate an already grim budget in most states. The federal government matches state spending on Medicaid at varying amounts. "We have a growing crisis," Stoll said. "We aren't looking at solutions to the crisis. We're looking at cutting back the very program that has cushioned the impact."

The situation is expected to get worse as employers ask workers to assume more costs or drop worker coverage.

source: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050831/NEWS/50831018 31aug2005