Health Insurance Coverage in Maine 2004-2005

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Abstract

The Maine Health Care Access Foundation funded this profile of Maine health insurance coverage. According to data from the Current Population Survey, 124,000 Maine residents did not have health insurance during the 2004–2005 period. The majority (84%) of uninsured people were adults. Just over half of Maine residents who were uninsured came from low-income families residents. Low-income young adults (ages 19–34) were particularly at risk for being uninsured, and one-quarter lacked coverage. Over 86,000 of Maine's uninsured people were workers. Forty-seven percent of this uninsured group were low-income, over half (55%) were employed by firms with fewer than 25 workers, and just over two-thirds worked in industries with low rates of job-based health coverage. Over two-thirds (67%) of Maine's uninsured people came from families with one or more full-time worker, while another 19 percent are from families with a part-time worker.

Introduction

This report provides detailed information about health insurance coverage in Maine for 2004–2005 using descriptive tables and figures. The figures illustrate who the uninsured are and the tables provide information on health insurance coverage by key social and economic determinants.

Detailed tables examine health insurance coverage by the following factors:

• Age
• Family income and federal poverty levels
• Family work status
• Education
• Gender
• Health status
• Parent status

Tables are provided for:

• Non-elderly
• Children
• Non-elderly adults
• Parents
• Non-parents
• Low-income non-elderly, adults and children

In addition, tables are provided to examine health insurance coverage and uninsurance among Maine's workers by the following factors:

• Firm size
• Industry
• Work status

Profile of People in Maine Who Are Uninsured

In Maine, 124,000 did not have health insurance in 2004–2005. The majority (84%) of uninsured people are adults.

Just over half of Maine people who are uninsured come from low-income families. The term family as used in family income, family federal poverty levels, and family work status, is defined as a health insurance unit (those who are eligible as a group for “family” coverage in a health plan) throughout this report. Low-income Maine residents (those with family incomes less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level [FPL ] or $39,942 for a family of four in 2005) are more than twice as likely to be uninsured as their higher income counter-parts. Nearly one in five low-income Maine residents lack health insurance.

Low-income adults make up over 40 percent of the uninsured population; 35 percent of uninsured Mainers are comprised of low-income non-parents. Low-income young adults (ages 19–34) are particularly at risk for being uninsured, and one-quarter lack coverage.

The vast majority (86%) of uninsured Maine residents come from a family with a full-time or part-time worker. Over 86,000 of Maine's uninsured people are workers. Forty-seven percent of this uninsured group are low-income, over half (55%) are employed by firms with fewer than 25 workers, and just over two-thirds work in industries with low rates of job-based health coverage.

Over two-thirds (67%) of Maine's uninsured people come from families with one or more full-time worker, while another 19 percent are from families with a part-time worker. Three out of four (76%) low-income uninsured Maine residents are in working families.

(End of excerpt. The complete paper is available in PDF format.)

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

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