Health News
- Improving Kentuckians' Health Will Require Education, Fighting Poverty; Poor And Less Educated Have Poorer Health, Study Shows
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Increased access to insurance is just one part of the equation to improve the health of Kentuckians, improving poverty and increasing education levels are disparities that must also be addressed if Kentucky ever...
- 15 To 25% Of Uninsured Kentuckians May Be Eligible For Free, Non-medicaid Coverage, But Watch Those Out-of-pocket Costs
Millions of Americans who don't quite qualify for Medicaid could still get free health insurance through federal subsidies, but this free coverage hasn't gotten much attention, since most of the zero premium plans come with some trade-offs. An...
- Chart Shows Impact Of Medicaid Expansion Or Rejection
A one-stop graphic that spells out what's in store for states that don't elect to expand Medicaid is the subject of a report by The Washington Post's Sarah Kliff. The charts show governors who elect not to expand the insurance program for...
- Families With High-deductible Health Insurance Plans Are More Likely To Put Off Care, Study Finds
Families who have health plans with high deductibles and who have members with chronic health conditions are far more likely to put off or forgo care entirely due to cost, a study has found. The odds of those families delaying or forgoing care were three...
- Last Year, 17.4 Percent Of Kentuckians Lived In Poverty And 17.5 Percent Did Not Have Health Insurance
More than one in six Kentuckians lived in poverty last year and almost exactly the same number didn't have health insurance, preliminary U.S. Census numbers show. The state's poverty rate was 17.4 percent and the uninsured rate was...
Health News
Fewer families report having trouble paying medical bills; near-poor struggle more than poor families
Fewer American families are having problems paying medical bills, but 20 percent of them, particularly those without insurance and those that are "near poor" but not :poor," still struggle with health costs, says a study released Tuesday by the National Center for Health Statistics.
The report says 54.2 million people, or 20.3 percent of families headed by someone under the age of 65, had difficulty covering medical expenses in the first half of 2012. During the first half of 2011, 21.7 percent of families, or 57.8 million people, found it difficult to pay medical bills.
Hispanics (25.2 percent) and blacks (27.9 percent) were more likely than whites (20.1 percent) or Asians (10.3 percent) to report trouble paying their medical bills, says the report. It says families with incomes from 100 to 199 percent of the poverty line were most likely to have difficulty paying medical bills, probably because those below the poverty line qualify for Medicaid. State income limits vary; in Kentucky, income-based Medicaid is available to those with incomes less than 70 percent of the poverty line.
Among families with insurance, 14 percent of those with private insurance and 25.6 percent with Medicaid or other public insurance had similar problems paying bills in the first half of 2012, which represents a 1.7 percent and 2.5 percent decrease from 2011, respectively. For a report on the study, click here.
The report says 54.2 million people, or 20.3 percent of families headed by someone under the age of 65, had difficulty covering medical expenses in the first half of 2012. During the first half of 2011, 21.7 percent of families, or 57.8 million people, found it difficult to pay medical bills.
Hispanics (25.2 percent) and blacks (27.9 percent) were more likely than whites (20.1 percent) or Asians (10.3 percent) to report trouble paying their medical bills, says the report. It says families with incomes from 100 to 199 percent of the poverty line were most likely to have difficulty paying medical bills, probably because those below the poverty line qualify for Medicaid. State income limits vary; in Kentucky, income-based Medicaid is available to those with incomes less than 70 percent of the poverty line.
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| 'Poor' are below the poverty line. 'Near poor' had incomes of 100 to 199 percent of the poverty line. |
- Improving Kentuckians' Health Will Require Education, Fighting Poverty; Poor And Less Educated Have Poorer Health, Study Shows
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Increased access to insurance is just one part of the equation to improve the health of Kentuckians, improving poverty and increasing education levels are disparities that must also be addressed if Kentucky ever...
- 15 To 25% Of Uninsured Kentuckians May Be Eligible For Free, Non-medicaid Coverage, But Watch Those Out-of-pocket Costs
Millions of Americans who don't quite qualify for Medicaid could still get free health insurance through federal subsidies, but this free coverage hasn't gotten much attention, since most of the zero premium plans come with some trade-offs. An...
- Chart Shows Impact Of Medicaid Expansion Or Rejection
A one-stop graphic that spells out what's in store for states that don't elect to expand Medicaid is the subject of a report by The Washington Post's Sarah Kliff. The charts show governors who elect not to expand the insurance program for...
- Families With High-deductible Health Insurance Plans Are More Likely To Put Off Care, Study Finds
Families who have health plans with high deductibles and who have members with chronic health conditions are far more likely to put off or forgo care entirely due to cost, a study has found. The odds of those families delaying or forgoing care were three...
- Last Year, 17.4 Percent Of Kentuckians Lived In Poverty And 17.5 Percent Did Not Have Health Insurance
More than one in six Kentuckians lived in poverty last year and almost exactly the same number didn't have health insurance, preliminary U.S. Census numbers show. The state's poverty rate was 17.4 percent and the uninsured rate was...