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Kansas Health Insurance and the Uninsured

Access to health care can mean the difference between a life of healthy productivity and a life of illness and pain or even premature death. Because health insurance is the primary means by which people gain access to health care services, it is important for policymakers to understand the insurance picture in Kansas. This report is intended to provide that by detailing the insurance status of Kansans.

The latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS) show that picture is changing. Though the vast majority of Kansans -- 87.5 percent -- have health insurance, an increasing number do not. The percentage of Kansans who are uninsured increased to 12.5 percent in 2006-2007, up from 10.5 percent in 2004-2005. Kansas was one of only 10 states that recorded an increase in the percentage of its population that is uninsured.

This means that about 340,000 Kansans report that they were never covered by health insurance during the previous calendar year. This number differs from other measures of uninsurance, such as those presented in a recent report by Families USA. The Families USA report estimates that 31 percent of Kansans under the age of 65, or 748,000 Kansans, went without health insurance for all or part of a two-year period. Most of these Kansans, about 534,000, are estimated to have been uninsured for periods of six months or more. But the higher number of 748,000 captures many additional Kansans who experience periods of uninsurance of less than six months. This KHI report uses the smaller CPS number of 340,000, which better reflects Kansans for whom being uninsured was a problem throughout the year.

A snapshot of the state's approximately 340,000 uninsured shows that most of them are adults. But 58,000 are children.

Contrary to what many may believe, 174,000 of the uninsured work full-time. Another 54,000 work part-time. And even though most uninsured Kansans work, many live in families making less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level, which means they have gross incomes of less than $3,052 a month for a family of three.

Research confirms that a lack of health insurance, no matter its duration, has consequences for the health and financial well-being of the uninsured. The uninsured often have difficulty getting the medical services and preventive care that they need. Studies also show that the uninsured are at greater risk for compiling medical debt, which, in addition to discouraging people from getting needed care, can make it more difficult for them to afford necessities such as housing and food.

This annual report is intended to provide decision makers with objective information about the insurance status of Kansans to assist them in crafting effective health policy. It is produced annually by the Kansas Health Institute, an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan health policy and research organization.