Higher Uninsured Numbers Leads to Greater Stresses
WASHINGTON – Ten thousand fewer Connecticut residents had health insurance in 2002 than in the previous year, according to new figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. The increase in people without insurance has put a strain on local health clinics and on taxpayers who often foot the bill.
The Census Bureau reported last week that the number of Americans without health insurance shot up by 2.4 million in 2002, to 43.6 million, or 15.2 percent of the population. In Connecticut, 356,000 people, or 10.5 percent of the state’s residents, lacked health insurance, up from 10.2 percent in 2001.
“These numbers are staggering,” Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said in a statement. “It is simply inconceivable that in a nation as strong and affluent as ours, one in seven citizens are living without any health insurance whatsoever. We can and we must do better.”
The Census Bureau blamed the increase on high unemployment rates and an economy in which fewer jobs provide health insurance. Many of Connecticut’s uninsured are also illegal immigrants, said Anna Washington, executive director of the Norwalk Community Health Center.
Washington said 40 percent of the center’s patients are uninsured and ineligible for any government benefits.
The increase in uninsured patients means the center must remain open longer to handle the workload. It also means some patients can’t see the specialists they need, said Cassandra Ramos, administrative assistant to the center’s medical director.
“We have more patients to service now,” Ramos said. “The staff that is here, they do work long hours because we don’t close our door until we service everyone that came through that door, even if that means we’re here until 8 o’clock at night.”
Because of the increase in patients and staff hours, the center needs more money – which comes almost entirely from taxpayers — to continue operating effectively, Ramos said. So far, the center has not received more state money, she said.
But even taxpayer money can’t solve all the patients’ problems. The center has a sliding fee scale, so patients pay as much as they can afford. But many have health problems that need to be handled by specialists, who often will not accept patients without insurance, Ramos said. “While they’re going back and forth with their dilemma, the patient is not being serviced in any capacity,” she said.
Staff at the center tries to help by phoning specialists to seek treatment. “There’s not much we really can do,” Ramos said.
The center also has instituted a bit of a political lobbying campaign. It helps patients write letters to urge members of Congress to improve the nation’s health insurance system, Ramos said.
The 10 other community health centers throughout Connecticut all have similarly high rates of patients without insurance, Washington said. All the centers operate under the same system.
The ranks of the uninsured grew in nearly every state in 2002, according to the census report. States in the Southwest generally have the highest numbers of uninsured. In Texas, President Bush’s home state, more than one-fourth of the residents lack health insurance, the highest rate in the nation.
Dodd blamed the problem on Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress. Health insurance and the increasing number of uninsured Americans is a big political issue, which Democrats view as one of Bush’s main weaknesses.
“If our President and his allies were as committed to helping working families get insurance and jobs as they are to helping the privileged few get tax cuts, we could make real progress,” Dodd said. “We must make this issue a priority and give all Americans the peace of mind of knowing that their health needs will be met and their families protected.”
