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| Data Notes |
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| Data Source: |
Washington State Population Survey (WSPS): Bi-annual reporting (December of every even year) |
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Measure Definition:
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Generated by OFM. The WSPS sample included 8,162 Washington state households, with questions focused primarily on employment, family poverty, in-migration, health, and health insurance coverage. Based on this survey, the estimate of Washington non-elderly residents (under 65) in 2008 was 5,816,291. Among these residents, 12.3 percent, or 717,782 people, lacked health insurance coverage at the time of the survey. About one in nine Washingtonians is uninsured |
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Target Rationale:
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The target overall uninsured rate is 95%; for children across all income levels, it is 96% and for children in families with low and moderate incomes, it is 94%. This measure came from The Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) on Health Care Cost and Access. The first goal was, “All Washingtonians will have access to health coverage that provides effective care by 2012, with all children having such coverage by 2010.” |
| Link to Agency Strategic Plan: |
To help reach the BRC goal of ensuring access to health coverage for all Washington children by 2010, DSHS has committed to providing coverage to an additional 38,500 children by June 2009. |
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Relevance
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By tracking uninsured rates for different groups of people and different regions across the state, DSHS can identify challenges to access to coverage and use this information to implement targeted outreach campaigns. |
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Notes: (optional)
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Children defined as residents under 19 years of age.
Adults defined as residents 19-64 years of age. Inclusion of people 65 years and older who are covered by Medicare will distort the adult insured rates.
In 2007, 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level was $21,027 for a married couple with two children (U.S. Census Bureau, "Poverty Thresholds for 2007 by Size of Family and Number of Related Children Under 18 Years"). Income for 2007 was collected during the 2008 survey.
More information about the WSPS is available at: www.ofm.wa.gov/sps/default.asp. |
| Also Available |
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| Action Plan: |
No |
| Extended Analysis: |
Yes | |
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Across all income levels, 95% of Washington children and 85% of adults were insured. 4.6% (78,000) of children and 15.5% (640,236) were uninsured.
- The estimated number of uninsured children declined by more than 5,000 between 2006 and 2008, but the decrease was not statistically significant.
- The increase between 2006 and 2008 in the uninsured rate among working age adults was not statistically significant, but there was a 5.4% statistically significant change between 2000 and 2008.
The vast majority of uninsured individuals in Washington are poor. Of the roughly 78,000 Washington children without insurance in 2008, nearly 54,000 (70%) were in families with incomes at or below 250% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) (see graph on Children Total tab to the left). Approximately 463,000 (72.3%) of working age uninsured adults had incomes at or below 200% FPL (see Adult Total tab).
The largest percentages of children and working age adults without insurance were found in the West Balance Region (one of 10 WSPS regions), which includes Clallam, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Klickitat, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Skamania, and Wahkiakum counties (see Children Region and Adult Region tabs). This was especially true for low-income children and adults:
SELECTED ACTION ITEM
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