Uninsured numbers unchanged

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The proportion of Idahoans without health insurance remained essentially unchanged between 2004-2005 and 2006-2007 even though employers reported scaling back their offers of health benefits to their workers. 

A new Census Bureau report issued Tuesday estimated that 14.6 percent of Idahoans were without health insurance in 2006-2007 compared to an estimated 14.7 percent in 2004-2005. The report found the difference between the two periods statistically insignificant. 

Idaho bucked the trend as 32 states posted increases in percentages of people without health insurance. Nationally, the proportion of uninsured people rose from 15.1 percent to 15.5 percent. 

Holding the rate of uninsured steady over the period coincided with the findings of the biennial 2007 Idaho Fringe Benefits Survey where employers reported they cut back health care benefits for the second straight time. 

Idaho's 2007 survey of 1,500 randomly selected employers found only 63 percent offered some form of health care coverage to full-time employees -- down from 74 percent in 2005 and 82 percent in 2002. 

Part-time workers were hit just as hard. Employers reported offering medical coverage to only 9 percent of their part-timers in 2007, down from 19 percent in 2005 and 27 percent in 2002. 

The census report pointed out that 25 percent of Idahoans had some form of government health coverage in 2007 -- Medicaid, Medicare or the military program -- and 10 percent of people under 65 purchased their own medical insurance. 

The Census Bureau also estimated the poverty rate for 2006-2007 at 9.7 percent, not significantly lower than the rate for 2004-2005. The period covered by the report was one of the most expansive for the Idaho economy in decades. 

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