ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
In early November, the Kansas Health Institute released a report detailing health insurance coverage by congressional district.
The data was compiled and analyzed using data from the U.S. Census Bureau and shows in 2023, 240,0302 Kansans were lacking health insurance.
This represents 8.4 percent of the state’s population, but the statewide uninsured rate is statistically unchanged from 2022. The uninsured rate varied from a low of 5.7 percent in Third Congressional District to a high of 10.3 percent in the Second District.
“They type of coverage available, demographic factors, such as age and income, local economy and personal preferences, are some of the factors that may lead to difference in health insurance coverage between areas,” KHI Strategy Team Leader Linda Sheppard said.
Other key points in the study included 40,549 uninsured children in Kansas, a statewide rate of 5.6 percent, with the First District coming in at 6 percent and the Second District coming in at 7 percent.
KHI Analyst Angela Wu said the differences between districts when it comes to uninsured children is not known at this point.
“We didn’t do analysis looking at an association between those characteristics in the insurance status,” she said. “I don’t have a firm answer as to why they are not insured.”
The study likewise showed about three in 10, or 31.7 percent of Kansans were covered by public insurance, including Medicare, Medicaid/CHIP and VA health care in 2023.
Public coverage ranged from approximately one-quarter of the population, or 23.7 percent, in the Third District to around a third in other districts:
• 31.2 percent in the First District;
• 37.7 percent in the Second District; and
• 34.3 percent in the Fourth District.
The report likewise showed 60 percent of Kansans had private insurance, such as employment-based, military/TRICARE, direct-purchase and other private.
While private coverage was 70.6 percent in the Third District, it ranged from 52 to 60.2 percent in the other districts.
KHI Research Director Wen-Chieh Lin said with smaller employers not required to insurance coverage, this could explain some of the differences.
“In that case, people can go to the Marketplace,” he said. “That is through the Affordable Care Act.”
KHI Director of Strategic Communication and Engagement Theresa Freed said agency leaders are seeing an increasing number of individuals enrolling in the federal insurance Marketplace.
“That fills that gap between the traditional private insurance through an employer and the public insurance – the Medicaid and Medicare programs,” she said. “There are more people accessing that insurance through the Marketplace.”
Freed said the Marketplace allows people to select their own insurance company.
“You would pay for that more out of pocket as opposed to a deductible from a private company,” she gave as an example as a deciding factor in choosing an insurance company.
Freed said the federal HealthCare.gov Web site has many means of help for those wanting insurance.
“If you go to HealthCare.gov, there is a phone number listed on there that shows they have availability 24/7,” she said. “That number is 1-800-318-2596. Also on that contact page on that Web site, it says Find Local Help/Agent-broker help on demand. You can find people in your community. It’s got a fact locator.”
Lin too said local economies could play a part in the differences in numbers between districts.
“The majority of the people receive their insurance from their employers,” he said.
