The Associated Press
and Peninsula Daily News
OLYMPIA — Bad statewide news is a little better on the North Olympic Peninsula.
One million residents in the state don’t have health insurance, and unpaid costs have risen to $1 billion a year, insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler said Tuesday.
The number of uninsured grew by at least 180,000 between 2008 and 2010, and 31 of the state’s 39 counties saw an increase in the number of uninsured, according to a report issued by Kreidler’s office.
Kreidler said 14.5 percent of the state’s more than 6.7 million people are without health insurance.
That percentage jumps to 20 percent or higher in five counties: Adams, Franklin, Grant, Okanogan and Yakima.
But Clallam and Jefferson counties saw a decline in both the number and percentage of uninsured, despite a population increase, during that time.
Clallam County’s number of uninsured dropped from 10,693 to 9,609, a percentage drop from 15.5 percent to 13.5 percent of the population, which was recorded as 69,200 in 2008 and 71,404 in 2010.
Jefferson County’s number of uninsured dropped from 4,062, or 14.1 percent, to 4,024, or 13.5 percent, of the population, said to be 28,800 in 2008 and 29,872 in 2010.
Four other counties also had a decline in uninsured: Cowlitz, Wahkiakum, Whatcom and Whitman.
A large number of retirees in Clallam, Jefferson, Cowlitz and Wahkiakum counties accounts for the decline, the report said, because people 65 or older are eligible for Medicare health coverage.
The uninsurance rate among seniors is extremely low, with only about 1 percent of people age 65 or older begin uninsured, compared with nearly 30 percent of those 18 to 34.
Declining rates in Whatcom and Whitman counties is said to be because of high numbers of college students.
A change in early 2010 through federal health care reform allows children up to age 26 to remain covered by their parents’ insurance policies.
The report found that about half of those without health insurance are employed and that the most likely to be uninsured are those between the ages of 18 and 34.
Nearly 30 percent of people in that age group are without health insurance, and they make up 47 percent of all of the state’s uninsured, Kreidler said.
Charity care by hospitals and health care providers rose 36 percent from 2008 to 2010, according to the report.
For instance, uncompensated care at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles cost the hospital $9.6 million this year and is projected to rise to $11.1 million in 2012.
Kreidler said those costs ultimately get passed on to those who are paying health care premiums.
Also, charges presented to Medicaid and Medicare represent 72 percent of OMC’s gross revenue, Chief Executive Officer Eric Lewis has said.
Since Medicare and Medicaid pay less than the hospital charges, OMC doesn’t necessarily net its gross revenue, he has said.
Kreidler also noted that the state numbers don’t include people who are insured but still struggle with high medical expenses.
“There are so many other people out there who, technically, have health insurance, but it’s inadequate,” he said.
“They’re only one step away from bankruptcy.”
Kreidler said that if the major provisions of the federal health care reform are able to take effect in 2014, more than 800,000 uninsured people in the state will be eligible for expanded Medicaid eligibility or subsidies, and the rate of uninsured would drop to 5 percent.
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments challenging the constitutionality of the historic health care overhaul — also known as the Affordable Care Act — next year.
Kreidler said he’s worried about what could happen if the court overturns the reform.
“Given the political atmosphere we face in the nation’s capital, I don’t know how they can work on a compromise that is going to effectively deal with the crisis we’re facing in health care right now. I’m very apprehensive,” he said.
The report comes after Gov. Chris Gregoire proposed last month that Basic Health, which provides medical services for the poor, be cut.
She has proposed $2 billion in statewide cuts to balance the budget, and the state Legislature is in special session now considering what to do.
