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 What's New
More children covered by public programs than private insurance
The number of uninsured persons in Mississippi declined 9 percent from 2006 to 2007 according to data released on August 26 by the U. S. Census Bureau. A total of 545,000 Mississippians were without health insurance coverage in 2007; in 2006, the total was 600,000. The number of children under 18 years of age without insurance decreased 36 percent from 146,000 in 2006 to 94,000 in 2007, according to the new Census report.
While the number of persons reporting coverage through a public program, such as Medicare or Medicaid, rose 15% from 2006 to 2007, the number covered by private health insurance decreased 4%. The total number of persons of all ages receiving health coverage through public programs grew from 884,000 to 1 million, and the number reporting coverage under Medicaid increased from 497,000 to 610,000.
|
All Persons |
|
2006 |
2007 |
% Change |
Total Number |
2,892,000 |
2,903,000 |
0.4% |
Some Coverage |
2,292,000 |
2,358,000 |
2.9%* |
Private Ins |
1,712,000 |
1,644,000 |
-4.0%* |
Employment Based |
1,455,000 |
1,429,000 |
-1.8% |
Public Coverage |
884,000 |
1,020,000 |
15.4%* |
Medicaid |
497,000 |
610,000 |
22.7%* |
Uninsured |
600,000 |
545,000 |
-9.2%* |
*Denotes statistically significant percent difference at p<.01 level.
For the population under 65 years of age, the number covered by public programs jumped 21 percent from 574,000 in 2006 to 697,000 in 2007, while the number covered by private insurance declined 5 percent from 1.6 million in 2006 to 1.5 million in 2007. Of those with public coverage, the number reporting coverage by Medicaid went from 425,000 to 532,000, an increase of 25 percent.
|
Persons under 65 |
|
2006 |
2007 |
% Change |
Total Number |
2,569,000 |
2,559,000 |
-0.4% |
Some Coverage |
1,976,000 |
2,023,000 |
2.4%* |
Private Ins |
1,566,000 |
1,492,000 |
-4.7%* |
Employment Based |
1,401,000 |
1,353,000 |
-3.4%* |
Public Coverage |
574,000 |
697,000 |
21.4%* |
Medicaid |
425,000 |
532,000 |
25.2%* |
Uninsured |
593,000 |
536,000 |
-9.6%* |
*Denotes statistically significant percent difference at p<.01 level.
Children under 18 years of age showed more dramatic shifts in coverage: the number with public coverage increased from 275,000 to 383,000, rising 39 percent over the period, while the number with private coverage fell 12.5 percent from 417,000 to 365,000. With these changes, there are now more children covered under public programs than those with private coverage. Mississippi is the only state with this distinction for 2007.
|
Persons under 18 |
|
2006 |
2007 |
% Change |
Total Number |
774,000 |
778,000 |
0.5% |
Some Coverage |
628,000 |
684,000 |
8.9%* |
Private Ins |
417,000 |
365,000 |
-12.5%* |
Employment Based |
367,000 |
333,000 |
-9.3%* |
Public Coverage |
275,000 |
383,000 |
39.3%* |
Medicaid |
248,000 |
341,000 |
37.5%* |
Uninsured |
146,000 |
94,000 |
-35.6%* |
*Denotes statistically significant percent difference at p<.01 level.
The Census Bureau tracks coverage of low-income (at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level) children under 19 years of age for purposes related to the funding of the State Children's Health Insurance Program. The report for Mississippi illustrates a statistically significant decline in the number of uninsured for this group as well.
|
Persons under 19 <=200% FPL |
|
2006 |
2007 |
% Change |
Total Number |
438,000 |
435,000 |
-0.7% |
Some Coverage |
315,771 |
353,000 |
11.7%* |
Uninsured |
123,000 |
82,000 |
-33.3% |
*Denotes statistically significant percent difference at p<.01 level.
The Center for Mississippi Health Policy has prepared a chartbook illustrating health insurance coverage trends in Mississippi from 2000 and including the new 2007 data.
Source: U. S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Annual social and Economic Supplements 2007 & 2008. |
Note: Persons may be included in both private and public coverage if they had both types of coverage in the year. |
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