Health Insurance Blog

According to a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau, in the United States in aggregate roughly 17% of the population (under age 65) goes without health insurance coverage.

Texas had the highest % of their state residents  go uninsured than any other state as 26.3% of Texas residents (under age 65) went without health insurance coverage.  New Mexico and Florida claimed the next highest levels of uninsured with 24.2% and 24.0% respectively.

The states with the lowest uninsured % include Minnesota 9.5%, Hawaii 9.7%, Wisconsin 10.3%, and Iowa 10.4%.

The U.S. Census report also broke down uninsured numbers across racial lines.  The broad findings as they relate to race found that Hispanics are far more likely to go without health insurance than either whites or African-Americans.  More specifically, in Texas for instance, over 40% of Hispanics went without health insurance, while the African-American uninsured % was 24% and 16% for whites.

On a positive note, nationally the Hispanic uninsured % declined from 34% (15.3 Million) to 32% (14.8 Million) from 2006 to 2007.  In addition, the number of uninsured children decreased from 8.7 Million to 8.1 Million.

The tremendous disparity in uninsured levels by state to state can be partly explained by health insurance mandates that exist on the state level that drive health insurance premiums.   States that have more expensive mandated benefits, for example, might require health insurance companies to charge significantly higher health insurance premiums in that state pricing out many more individuals and families form purchasing individual health plans.  This is precisely what McCain’s health reform plan is seeking to eliminate by creating a national health insurance marketplace and allowing customers to purchase health insurance plans from other states if they offer a health plan that is a better fit for their health care needs and budget.

UnitedHealthCare has launched a health plan in Texas designed specifically to help enhance the well-being of Spanish speaking Hispanics and their families.

The plan called PlanBien, includes culturally relevant information and programs tailored to meet the health care needs of Hispanics such as:

1.  Specialized educational materials printed in Spanish.

2.  Bilingual photo stories depicting how a family discusses common health concerns;

3.  Trained and certified bilingual customer service representatives available to answer questions and locate Spanish-speaking doctors for particiapnts

4. A bilingual provider directory that lists physician offices with Spanish-speaking doctors, and more.

PlanBien is currently  available to small and medium-sized businesses in select markets in Texas, including San Antonio, Austin, and Houston, as well as labor organizations and public-sector entities.  PlanBien is currently not offered as part of an individual health insurance plan, but possibly will be in the future.

For more information about individual health insurance in Texas.

More information about Latino Health Solutions, visit UnitedHealthcare’s bilingual Web site, www.uhclatino.com.