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One out of every 8 kids in Utah, more than 100,000, are not covered by health insurance, at least half of them could be. That's according to a new census report from Families USA.
In a down economy, the number of people in America without health insurance typically goes up.
"This is an enormous problem that the state faces," said Lincoln Nehring, with the Utah Health Policy Project. "I wasn't surprised. These numbers reinforced what we already knew."
The census report shows Utah now has the 10th-highest percentage of uninsured children in the country: nearly 13 percent of all the kids in the state.
Local surveys show the numbers may not be quite as high. But state health care advocates argue the problem remains the same.
"We can see as the economy gets worse, more families come on to these types of programs," said Nate Checketts, with the Utah Department of Health.
The Children's Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP, and Medicaid are among those available to Utah families. More than half of the uninsured children in the state qualify for those programs, but for reasons ranging from a lack of awareness to stigma, people have failed to apply.
"People are embarrassed to acknowledge that they need help getting health care coverage. But the reality is that healthcare has become so expensive, so unaffordable," Nehring said.
Families USA also reports that 78 percent of Utah's uninsured children come from families where at least one parent works full time.
"Only 44 percent of our businesses offer health insurance to the dependents and their families, and that's in part because Utah has so many small businesses. Small businesses traditionally offer less health insurance than big businesses do, and so Utah has always struggled with having uninsured children and uninsured families," Checketts said.
Both our state and federal governments will have to make some tough decisions in the near future when it comes to health care. But again, there are programs people are not taking advantage of here in Utah.
For more information on how you can get help to insure your children, click on the following links:
- Utah's CHIP, phone: 1-877-KIDS-NOW
- Utah Medicaid Program
- Utah Health Policy Project
- Utah Department of Workforce Services' health services links
- Utah Department of Workforce Services' information and services links
E-mail: wjohnson@ksl.com
E-mail: spark@ksl.com
