Health News
- Higher-income Kentuckians' Reported Health Keeps Declining; Reports From Those With Lower Incomes Go Up, Marginally
A statewide poll again finds that Kentuckians with higher incomes consider themselves in better health than those with lower incomes. The latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll, taken Oct. 8 through Nov. 6, found that 55 percent of Kentucky adults who are...
- Kentuckians With Health Insurance Are More Likely To Have Heard About Kynect Than Those Without Insurance, Poll Finds
The 10 percent of Kentuckians who remain without health insurance are less likely to have heard much about Kynect, the state health-insurance exchange created under the federal health-reform law, than those who have insurance. But overall, the uninsured...
- One Of Every Three Kentucky Adults Didn't See A Dentist Last Year; Key Factors Are Overall Health, Insurance And Income
More than a third of Kentucky adults say they didn't go to a dentist last year, and one in six said they hadn't in five years or more, according to the latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll. The results show the challenges Kentucky adults who are...
- Poll In Fall Found More Kentuckians Reporting Health Coverage Through Employers, Fewer Saying They're On Public Insurance
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News More Kentuckians had health insurance through their employer last year than the year before, and fewer were on public insurance, according to a statewide poll taken last fall. Both results reversed trends the poll had...
- More Kentuckians Had Health Insurance In 2010, Survey Finds
Fewer Kentuckians lacked health insurance in 2010, the Kentucky Health Issues Poll has found. About one in four Kentuckians ages 18 to 64 were uninsured last year, much the same as in 2008. Last year, at the depth of the recession, the uninsured...
Health News
Economic upturn boosts share of Kentuckians on employer-based health coverage; health reform boosts number on public plans
Half of Kentucky's working-age adults now get health insurance through their employers, up from 37 percent two years ago, reversing a downward trend that began with the Great Recession.
Meanwhile, under federal health reform, many more Kentuckians are on public insurance, mostly Medicaid, and many fewer report being uninsured. Those are among the findings in the latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll, taken Oct. 8 through Nov. 6.
In 2008, when the recession began, 55 percent of Kentuckians reported that they got insurance through their employer. That dropped to 44 percent in 2009 and declined to 37 percent in 2012. But the number rose to 44 percent in 2013, and to 50 percent last fall.
The expansion of Medicaid under federal health reform has greatly boosted the share of Kentuckians on public health insurance, to 29 percent. The number had risen from 11 percent to 27 percent between 2008 and 2012, then dropped to 20 percent in 2013.
Medicaid has been expanded to households with annual income up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. In the poll, only 12 percent of people with such incomes said they were uninsured, down from 34 percent in 2013.
In the entire population, the percentage of uninsured is the same, showing the impact of Medicaid expansion. Overall, 12 percent in the latest poll reported being uninsured, and another 12 percent said they were insured but had been without health insurance at some point in the previous 12 months.
?This report gives us a snapshot of the changing health insurance situation for Kentucky adults,? ssaid Susan Zepeda, President/CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, which sponsored the poll with Interact for Health, formerly the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati. ?Having health insurance is an important factor in having access to affordable, quality health care.?
Because 97 percent of seniors have Medicare or some other form of health coverage, the questions were asked only of working-age adults, ages 18 to 64. A random sample of 1,597 adults all over Kentucky was interviewed by telephone, including landlines and cell phones. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2,5 percentage points.
Meanwhile, under federal health reform, many more Kentuckians are on public insurance, mostly Medicaid, and many fewer report being uninsured. Those are among the findings in the latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll, taken Oct. 8 through Nov. 6.
In 2008, when the recession began, 55 percent of Kentuckians reported that they got insurance through their employer. That dropped to 44 percent in 2009 and declined to 37 percent in 2012. But the number rose to 44 percent in 2013, and to 50 percent last fall.
The expansion of Medicaid under federal health reform has greatly boosted the share of Kentuckians on public health insurance, to 29 percent. The number had risen from 11 percent to 27 percent between 2008 and 2012, then dropped to 20 percent in 2013.
Medicaid has been expanded to households with annual income up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. In the poll, only 12 percent of people with such incomes said they were uninsured, down from 34 percent in 2013.
In the entire population, the percentage of uninsured is the same, showing the impact of Medicaid expansion. Overall, 12 percent in the latest poll reported being uninsured, and another 12 percent said they were insured but had been without health insurance at some point in the previous 12 months.
?This report gives us a snapshot of the changing health insurance situation for Kentucky adults,? ssaid Susan Zepeda, President/CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, which sponsored the poll with Interact for Health, formerly the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati. ?Having health insurance is an important factor in having access to affordable, quality health care.?
Because 97 percent of seniors have Medicare or some other form of health coverage, the questions were asked only of working-age adults, ages 18 to 64. A random sample of 1,597 adults all over Kentucky was interviewed by telephone, including landlines and cell phones. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2,5 percentage points.
- Higher-income Kentuckians' Reported Health Keeps Declining; Reports From Those With Lower Incomes Go Up, Marginally
A statewide poll again finds that Kentuckians with higher incomes consider themselves in better health than those with lower incomes. The latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll, taken Oct. 8 through Nov. 6, found that 55 percent of Kentucky adults who are...
- Kentuckians With Health Insurance Are More Likely To Have Heard About Kynect Than Those Without Insurance, Poll Finds
The 10 percent of Kentuckians who remain without health insurance are less likely to have heard much about Kynect, the state health-insurance exchange created under the federal health-reform law, than those who have insurance. But overall, the uninsured...
- One Of Every Three Kentucky Adults Didn't See A Dentist Last Year; Key Factors Are Overall Health, Insurance And Income
More than a third of Kentucky adults say they didn't go to a dentist last year, and one in six said they hadn't in five years or more, according to the latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll. The results show the challenges Kentucky adults who are...
- Poll In Fall Found More Kentuckians Reporting Health Coverage Through Employers, Fewer Saying They're On Public Insurance
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News More Kentuckians had health insurance through their employer last year than the year before, and fewer were on public insurance, according to a statewide poll taken last fall. Both results reversed trends the poll had...
- More Kentuckians Had Health Insurance In 2010, Survey Finds
Fewer Kentuckians lacked health insurance in 2010, the Kentucky Health Issues Poll has found. About one in four Kentuckians ages 18 to 64 were uninsured last year, much the same as in 2008. Last year, at the depth of the recession, the uninsured...