Director: Study shows problem
Fewer Nebraskans have health insurance
OMAHA (AP) - The 1989 rate of
Nebraskans without health insurance
was the second highest in a decade
despite the decade’s lowest unem
ployment rate and improved economic
conditions in the state, a University of
Nebraska study indicated.
Of 1,866 Nebraska adults ques
tioned in telephone interviews, 8.1
percent said they did not have insur
ance, indicated the study from the
Center for Health Services Research
of the University of Nebraska. Re
sults of the study were released
Monday.
David Palm, director of the bureau
of health planning and data manage
ment for the Nebraska Department of
Health said the problem could not be
overlooked.
“I think this study shows that this
is a serious problem,” Palm said.
The report concluded:
“While it is encouraging to sec
that the general economic improve
ment, combined with some efforts in
public policy, have reduced the per
cent of uninsured in the state, it is
disconcerting that the percent is still
above eight.”
Nebraska’s rate among those sur
veyed declined from a 10-year high
of 9.7 percent in 1986. Insurance was
defined as both private and public
health care coverage, including
Medicare and Medicaid.
Nebraska in 1989 “was on its way
to a 12-year low in unemployment,
reached in April 1990,” the report
found. The 1989 employment rate of
3.1 percent was the lowest in a 10
year period used in the study.
In spite of the general economic
improvement, Nebraska’s rate may
have been affected by factors that are
recognized as contributing to a higher
percentage of uninsured people, the
authors said.
Those more likely to lack cover
age arc employees of small firms,
seasonal workers and part-lime and
self-eir. joyed workers. Also included
in that group arc those who work for
low wages but make too much to be
eligible for Medicaid, those between
18 and 24, and minorities.
“Consistent with national trends,
uninsurance in Nebraska is a problem
for the working poor,” the report
said.
The highest rate (20.9 percent) of
households without insurance was
among those making between $5,000
and $9,999, and the second highest
(18.6 percent) was among those making
between $10,000 and $14,999.
By age groups, the highest per
centage (14.9 percent) was among
those 18-25 years old.
Nebraska’s overall rate of unin
sured in 1989 was “somewhat lower
than would be expected give the na
tional data, but still somewhat high
given the current economic health of
the state,’ ’ the authors wrote.
The national consensus in the fall
of 1989 was that about 15 percent of
the population lacked coverage, ac
cording to the center’s report.
Palm said he would have expected
some drop in the state’s overall ratio
of uninsured because the slate’s econ
omy has improved. But, he said, “we
still have some pockets of population
that are not doing well.’’
He said he considered the rate of
8.1 percent high and a possible indi
cation that people were going without
medical care for lack of a way to pay
their bills.
The survey producing the 8.1 per
cent statewide rate carried a margin
of error of 1.25 percentage points.
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