Number of uninsured Oklahomans grows, Census data shows [Tulsa World, Okla.]

Aug. 30--Diseree Tottress has been trying to avoid going to the emergency room, but without health insurance her options are limited.

She found Morton Comprehensive Health Services through a Google search and Thursday was at her appointment, hoping to get help with pain in her right arm. Morton is a federally qualified health center that provides an array of health services on a sliding scale based on income.

Tottress, 24, said she would go to the doctor more often for checkups if she had insurance. Now she just hopes for the best.

"It's very frustrating," she said. "Because if you don't come here you're going to rack up bills at the emergency room."

Tottress is one of hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans who don't have health insurance, a number that has seen a slight increase according to new Census data released Thursday.

The number of Oklahomans under the age of 65 who lack health insurance increased by more than 4,000 in 2011 compared to the previous year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau report.

Because the number of residents in that age group increased in the state, the overall rate of uninsured did not change significantly, declining from 21.9 percent in 2010 to 21.8 percent -- or 695,537 people -- in 2011, according to the Bureau's annual Small Area Health Insurance Estimates report.

Tottress cannot get on her parents' health insurance because they also lack insurance. She was about to get insurance through work, but recently lost her job.

Now, in her job hunt, she's looking for a position that offers insurance. Tottress said she can't afford private insurance.

"If you're not working, where is that money going to come from?" she said.

Like Tottress, about half of the 22,000 patients that Morton served last year were uninsured.

Maria Fosburg, a registered nurse and Morton's director of nursing, said the clinic's approach to providing a broad spectrum of services under one roof saves the health care system money. Those who lack basic care often ignore treatable problems until they become more expensive health issues, she said.

"A lot of them are people who have gone to the ER maybe with headaches and chest pains and all they needed was a medication that costs $4. ... They end up with a multi-thousand dollar bill at the hospital," Fosburg said.

Oklahoma ranks below only four states in the number of uninsured residents under 65, according to the Census report.

Nationwide, state-level uninsured rates for the population under age 65 vary widely. The rate ranges from a low of 4.9 percent in Massachusetts to a high of 25.7 percent in Texas.

In Tulsa County, the news was somewhat better. The uninsured rate and the number of uninsured residents in the under age 65 population both saw declines over the prior year.

The number of Tulsa County residents under the age of 65 without health insurance declined by 1,455 to 112,949. The county-level uninsured rate also declined.

Among the state's 77 counties, Canadian County, just west of Oklahoma City, had the lowest rate of its population uninsured, 15.7 percent.

Texas County, in the Oklahoma panhandle, had the highest uninsured rate, 28.6 percent.

In Oklahoma, as in all states, minorities had higher uninsured rates compared to non-Hispanic whites.

Low-income groups also had higher uninsured rates than the overall population, though the number remained relatively stable from 2010 to 2011. About one-third of Oklahomans under 65 with family incomes at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level have no insurance.

The percentage of uninsured children in the state increased from 10.5 percent to 11.4 percent, or 110,603 children, the report states.

Gov. Mary Fallin has rejected an expansion of Medicaid that is part of the Affordable Care Act that would provide health insurance to some of the state's poorest residents. A state program called Insure Oklahoma that provides insurance to lower-income residents is set to end Dec. 31.

Fallin has said the state is negotiating with the federal government to continue the program but federal officials have so far refused to do so.

Enrollment for the Affordable Care Act begins Oct. 1. The law includes subsidies for those making between 100 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level to purchase health insurance.

Area uninsured rates

2011 Difference

County rate from 2010

Pawnee 22.7% -2.4

Wagoner 18.9% -1.7

Washington 19% -0.8

Tulsa 21.4% -0.4

Creek 22.3% -0.4

Osage 20.6% -0.3

Rogers 17% -0.3

Muskogee 23.7% +1.2

Okmulgee 22.2% +1.4

Source: Tulsa World analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data

Curtis Killman 918-581-8471 Shannon Muchmore 918-581-8378 Ziva Branstetter 918-581-8306

[email protected][email protected][email protected]

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