More Than One Million Pennsylvanians Uninsured, Survey Finds

More than one million Pennsylvania residents, or 8.2% of the state population, are uninsured, compared with 7.5% in 2004, according to a survey released on Thursday by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, the AP/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports (AP/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 1/29). The survey, conducted between September 2007 and May 2008, was based on information on 50,000 state residents and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 0.7 percentage points.

According to the survey, 880,000 of uninsured state residents are adults -- up 17% from 2004 -- and 140,000 are children -- up 5% from 2004 (Worden, Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/30). The survey found that more than 50% of the uninsured have been without coverage for a year or less but that almost 18% have been without coverage for more than five years (AP/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 1/29). Of the adults who lack insurance, 62% are employed, but either do not have access to health coverage or cannot afford the coverage being offered (Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/30).

The survey found that 62% of Pennsylvania residents have some form of private health insurance, 4% fewer than in 2004, while 18%, or 2.2 million, are covered through state-sponsored programs such as Medicaid, SCHIP or adultBasic, which offers basic coverage to adults who have been without insurance for at least three months. According to state Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario, there are 183,000 people on the adultBasic waiting list, which "is projected to grow to 282,000 by the end of June" (Twedt, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1/30).

The report is available online.