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Breaking News from America's Progressive Community... 1999
Releases
The press releases posted here have been provided to NewsCenter by the one of the many progressive organizations we have selected to participate. If you would like more information about this press release, you should contact the organization directly. |
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| FEBRUARY
9, 1999 9:00 AM FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Michelle Bazie, Jocelyn Guyer or Cindy Mann, 202-408-1080 |
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| Report Says Close to Half of Working Poor Parents Lack Health Insurance | ||||
| WASHINGTON
- February 9 - Today the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities will release
a
report which finds that nearly half of all poor working parents lacked
health insurance coverage throughout 1997. The study, which features
state-by-state data, determines that working poor parents are twice as
likely to be uninsured as poor parents who are unemployed.
The report, "Employed but Uninsured: A State-by-State Analysis of the Number of Low-Income Working Parents Who Lack Health Insurance," also finds that few states have yet to take advantage of a new option the welfare law created that allows states to extend Medicaid coverage to low-income parents. The report notes, however, that a number of states are beginning to consider this option. The findings of the report, which is based on Census data and provides data for the first time on the number and percentage of low-income working parents in each state who lack insurance, include the following: -- Forty-six percent of the 4.9 million working parents with income below the federal poverty line -- $13,650 for a family of three -- were uninsured in 1997. -- More than one of every three parents with incomes below 200 percent of the poverty line ($27,300 for a family of three) -- or 34.5 percent of such parents -- lacked insurance in 1997. Due to changes in welfare programs and a robust economy, fewer low-income parents are now receiving welfare and the Medicaid coverage that typically comes with it. As a result, more of these parents are working at low-wage jobs that offer no health insurance coverage and have joined the ranks of the uninsured. State Medicaid Programs Not Filling the Gap The report finds that most states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia are not filling these gaps by offering coverage to low-income working parents through Medicaid. Although most states provide coverage to poor and near-poor children in low-income working families, their parents remain without insurance. In addition, some 21 states fail to extend Medicaid coverage to most parents in two-parent households. According to the report, rules in these states that largely limit coverage to parents in single-parent households stem from an old, and now widely discredited, policy left over from the old welfare system. New Option Allows States to Close Gaps Under the new Federal law, states now have the option to expand Medicaid to low-income working parents. The study finds that some states still seem unaware of this new option. The federal government will finance half to more than three-fourths of the cost of extending health insurance coverage through Medicaid to low-income working parents, with the exact percentage of the federal government's share depending on each state's Medicaid matching rate. Thereby allowing states to promote work and meet their welfare reform goals. In recent months several states, including the District of Columbia, Rhode Island, Missouri, and Wisconsin, have taken advantage of the new option to expand coverage for low-income working parents, the report said. This report will be available on an embargoed basis through
http://www.cbpp.org on Monday, Feb. 8, 1999.
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