Profile of Those Lacking Kansas Health Insurance

The approximately 340,000 Kansans who are uninsured represent a cross section of the state. They include people of all ages, genders, racial and ethnic backgrounds, income levels and employment circumstances.

Age

• Children comprise 17 percent of uninsured Kansans, even though in general they are less likely to be uninsured than adults.
• About 58,000 children in Kansas are uninsured.
• Although young adults, age 19-34, comprise only 23 percent of the Kansas population, they comprise 42 percent of the uninsured.
• Forty percent of uninsured Kansans are middle-aged adults, age 35-64.
• Seniors, who are least likely to be uninsured, comprise only 1 percent of the uninsured. Most seniors are covered by health insurance through Medicare, a public health insurance program.

Gender

• The uninsured population in Kansas is just about evenly split between males and females.

Race and Ethnicity

• Two-thirds of the uninsured are white, non-Hispanic Kansans.
• Although Hispanic Kansans comprise only 8 percent of the population, they comprise 19 percent of the uninsured population.

Poverty Status

• More than half of uninsured Kansans, about 56 percent, have family incomes less than 200 percent of the poverty level. For a family of three in 2009, this means living on a gross monthly income of less than $3,052.
• About one-fourth of uninsured Kansans live in middle-income families. For a family of three in 2009, this means a gross monthly income between $3,052 and $6,103.
• Almost one-fifth of the uninsured live in families with incomes at or above 400 percent of the poverty level. For a family of three in 2009, this means a gross monthly income greater than $6,103.
• Almost two-thirds of uninsured Kansas children live in low-income families, meaning they are likely to be eligible for HealthWave, the state's public health insurance program.

Work Status

• Approximately 174,000 uninsured Kansans -- almost two-thirds of uninsured adults -- work full-time.
• Part-time workers and those who did not work in the previous calendar year each constitute about a fifth of the uninsured adult population in Kansas.

Employer Type and Size

• Uninsured workers are employed by both large and small businesses. Twenty-eight percent of uninsured adult Kansans work for private employers with 100 or more employees.