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Highlights

• A survey of over 10,000 Louisiana households was conducted from May 15-October 1, 2003 by the LSU Public Policy Research Lab.  This is the most comprehensive survey ever conducted on the status of health coverage for Louisiana residents.  The best estimates of the uninsured in Louisiana prior to this survey was based on work done by the U.S. Census Bureau with a sample of only 1,200 Louisiana households.
• More than 576,000 or 1 in 5 (21.1%) Louisiana adults between the age of 19-65 are currently uninsured.  This population is either too old for LaCHIP and Medicaid, too young for Medicare, or cannot afford private health insurance.
• When looking at Louisiana’s children the picture is much rosier with a rate of only 11.1% uninsured.  And these numbers are getting lower every month.  In fact, since the Health Care Summit and Governor Blanco’s pledge to enroll all eligible children in LaCHIP a total of 8,625 children additional children now have health insurance.
• This data shows a relationship between income and the health insurance status in the adult population with areas like the Florida Parishes and Metro Baton Rouge which have the high the highest per capita income and the lowest rates of uninsured adults.  Furthermore, the parishes of Northeast Louisiana have some of the lowest per capita income and this report shows them with the highest percentage of uninsured adults.
• The relationship between median income within the region and the percent of uninsured children is less clear.  This is in large part due to the concerted efforts made by DHH over the past five years to reduce the number of uninsured children.  In fact, Central Louisiana has the lowest median income but has the lowest percentage of uninsured children in the state.
• The size of this survey not only allowed us for the first time to get a handle on how the percentage of uninsured Louisiana children varies between regions, it also allowed to get an idea of what those numbers are on a parish by parish basis.
• By having knowledge of the percentage of uninsured children on a parish level, we can review the efforts where great strides have been made from rural areas like Evangeline Parish (6.8%) to urban centers like East Baton Rouge (9.7%). It can also tell us where much work needs to be done most particularly in Northwest Louisiana – for instance in Caddo Parish over 10,000 of a total population of 70,000 kids are still uninsured and in Red River Parish over 27% of children are uninsured.
• Young adults between the ages of 22-29 make up over 20 percent of all uninsured Louisiana residents – the highest of any age group.  Approximately 31 percent of these young adults are uninsured.  This can be problematic for many reasons including the implication for uninsured children, as the parent of young children who lack insurance coverage may be less likely to enroll their children in LaCHIP.
• Nearly half of adults with household incomes less than $15K/year are uninsured. as income increases the percent of uninsured drops quite predictably.  On the other hand children in households with income less than $10K/year and that percentage increases as the income increases. In fact the estimates show that the rate of uninsured children in households with income between $35K-45K is approximately 18%.
• We also found out through this survey that over 77,000 children who are living below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level are uninsured.  These children would likely be eligible for LaCHIP or Medicaid, but have not yet been enrolled.
• This survey also validates that LaCHIP coverage and the rate of uninsured children by region is inversely related.  For example, in Northeast Louisiana, over 40% of all children Under 200% of Poverty are covered through LaCHIP and 11.4% are uninsured.  In contrast – Northwest Louisiana has a significantly lower proportion of children (21%) are covered by LaCHIP and a significantly higher proportion of children are uninsured (28%).
• The demographics of the uninsured adults are very similar to the general population:
• Over 80% have a high school diploma
• Approximately 55% are Women
• Over 65% are white
• The high cost of health coverage is widely identified as the main reason Louisiana residents do not have health insurance. Over 75% of all individuals surveyed noted that the main reason they do not have health insurance is that it is “too expensive.” No other reason comes close.  10% of Louisiana residents do not have health insurance because it is not available through their employer.
• Nearly 95% of all respondents noted that health care initiatives such as lower cost premiums through employer or a publicly sponsored basic coverage package with co-pays would help others that they know.
• The way in which Louisiana residents utilize health care resources varies quite bit when looking at the Insured versus Uninsured population:
• Only 41% of uninsured Louisiana residents receive their regular care from a doctor’s office compared to 61% of insured residents.
• Only 12% of insured respondents delayed medical care in the last 12 months because of the expense compared to 37% of uninsured respondents.
• Only 29% of uninsured residents describe their health as excellent as compared to approximately 40% of insured residents.
• Nearly half of uninsured respondents reported spending over $40 compared to 20% of insured respondents.
• Despite difference in employment and insurance status, it is important to keep in mind that the majority of uninsured Louisiana residents are employed – and that the overwhelming majority of these individuals are not self employed.
• The rate of uninsured adults is highest in the hotel and construction industries.
• Over a third of Louisianians working in the service sector do not have health insurance.

Files	Size	Format
Final Report	463 kb	Adobe PDF	download viewer
LHIS Appendix: Parish Estimates of Uninsured Children	21 kb	Adobe PDF	download viewer
LHIS Appendix: Parish Estimates of Uninsured Children (Map)	177 kb	Adobe PDF	download viewer