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Washington D.C.- A new report released today by the health care consumer group Families USA shows an estimated 81 percent of low-income, uninsured adults-more than 13 million people-do not qualify for Medicaid or other public health coverage in their state.
The report examines uninsured adult parents and non-parents living under 200 percent of the federal poverty line - $29,260 in annual income for a family of three. The state-by-state data reveal that, in more than half of all states, a parent in a three-person family working full time at the minimum wage ($5.15 per hour) is considered to have "too much income" to qualify for Medicaid.
According to the report, eligibility levels for parents are so low that in almost 36 states a family of three must have a yearly income below $14,000 to qualify for health coverage. As a result, there are 6.5 million low-income uninsured parents and approximately 67 percent of them-4.3 million-are ineligible for Medicaid.
In 43 states, non-parent adults-even if they are penniless-are ineligible for Medicaid, unless they are severely disabled. This means that, of 9.8 million uninsured, low-income, non-parental adults, 8.9 million, or approximately 91 percent, do not qualify for public health coverage.
"For uninsured low-income adults, the health care safety net is wholly inadequate," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA. "Many millions of low-wage, working adults, who don't have employer health coverage and who can't afford to buy coverage, are left unprotected by public health programs in their states."
Under Medicaid's broad federal guidelines, each state has extensive flexibility to set its own eligibility standards. The result is 56 unique Medicaid programs (one for each state, territory, and the District of Columbia).
"Most of the public and many policymakers believe that Medicaid provides a health care safety net for all low-income people," said Pollack. "This myth is grossly inaccurate and discourages corrective action that could significantly reduce the number of uninsured in this country."
Congress is in a position to close some of the Medicaid holes this year. The Congressional Budget Resolution included $28 billion over the next three years to expand health care coverage for the uninsured. This week, Senators Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) are scheduled to introduce a bill that provides incentives for states to expand existing health care programs to include parents. Also, in the last week of July, the Senate Finance Committee is expected to begin mark-up of a proposal to expand health coverage for the uninsured.
"Expanding public programs, such as Medicaid and CHIP, will significantly reduce the number of uninsured Americans," said Pollack. "The $28 billion included in the budget resolution gives Congress an opportunity this year to help millions gain access to health care."
For this report, estimates of the number of uninsured adult parents and non-parents state-by-state are based on a Families USA analysis of data for 1997, 1998, and 1999 from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey. Three years of data were used in order to improve the reliability of state-level estimates.
