This OLR Backgrounder provides data on Connecticut residents with and without health care coverage in Connecticut.

NUMBER OF UNINSURED DECREASED

There are approximately 325,500 Connecticut residents without health care coverage, according to the Urban Institute and Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Using census data from 2004 to 2007, Urban Institute and Kaiser estimate that the number of uninsured Connecticut residents has decreased by 67,154 from 2004-2005 to 2006-2007. (The state data is presented in two-year averages.) This is a 2% drop in the rate of total uninsured, from 11% to 9% of the state's total population, over the same period. The drop in the uninsured appears to have been caused by:

DISTRIBUTION BY COVERAGE TYPE IS UNCHANGED

For those residents with a source of health care coverage, the distribution by type of coverage did not change from one period to the next (percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number):

1. 61% have employer-sponsored coverage,

2. 4% individual health insurance,

3. 11% Medicaid (including HUSKY),

4. 13% Medicare, and

5. 1% other public coverage (e.g., military TRICARE benefits).

RATE OF UNINSURED DECREASED FOR EACH SUBPOPULATION

The rate of uninsured from one period to the next decreased for each subpopulation shown, including:

1. 1% for females;

2. 2% for children, adults, near poor (100% to 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL)), males, and whites;

3. 3% for poor (under 100% FPL) and blacks; and

4. 4% for Hispanics.

BUSINESSES OFFERING HEALTH CARE COVERAGE

DATA TABLES

Table 1 provides a breakdown of Connecticut's total population by the source of health care coverage: private coverage through an employer-sponsored plan, private coverage through an individual insurance policy, Medicaid (including HUSKY), Medicare, other public coverage (e.g., TRICARE military coverage), and those without coverage (i.e., the

uninsured). It provides the data for 2004-2005 and 2006-2007, as well as the change from one period to the next. Table 2 provides the same breakdowns for the United States.

Table 3 provides the distribution and rate of Connecticut's uninsured by these subpopulations: children and adults, poor and near poor, female and male, and ethnicity (white, black, Hispanic, other). Table 4 provides a breakdown of health care coverage in Connecticut's private sector, compared to the United States.

Table 1: Connecticut: Health Insurance Coverage - Total Population

(2004-2005 and 2006-2007)

Table 2: United States: Health Insurance Coverage - Total Population

(2005 and 2007)

Table 3: Connecticut: Distribution and Rate of Uninsured Nonelderly (0-64) by Age,

Federal Poverty Level (FPL), Gender, and Race/Ethnicity

(2004-2005 and 2006-2007)

Table 4: Connecticut and United States: Private Sector Coverage (2006)

DATA SOURCES

The data comes from the Urban Institute and Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured estimates and are available by accessing http://www.statehealthfacts.org/profilecat.jsp?rgn=8&cat=3.

For Tables 1, 2, and 3, their estimates are based on the U.S. Census Bureau's March Current Population Surveys, 2005-2007 (CPS: Annual Social and Economic Supplements). The state data represents two year averages. (Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding.)

For Table 4, their data is from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Center for Cost and Financing Studies. 2006 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, Insurance Component, Table II.A.2.