Less than two weeks before uninsured Ohioans can begin exploring their options for federally mandated health-care coverage, the percentage of people who need the help is showing improvement, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released today.
The Akron-Canton area counties joined the trend, with one exception: Portage County.
The data for 2012 show that the percentage of uninsured in Portage increased to 11.1 percent from 10.5 in 2011.
County Commissioner Kathleen Chandler has no firm explanation, but does have an idea why.
“My guess is, and this is purely speculation on my part, one reason is because we have a considerably larger college population right now” than in the recent past, Chandler said, referring to students at Hiram College, Northeast Ohio Medical University and historically high enrollment at Kent State University. “We have a disproportionate number of young people between the ages of 18 and 24.”
The data show she may be correct: Among the 38 counties for which numbers are available, Portage had the second-highest portion of uninsured residents ages 19 to 25.
Sen. John Eklund, R-Munson Township, represents a portion of the county and was perplexed.
“If the numbers show that there is an increase and that [increase] is divergent to the experience of surrounding counties, it makes me want to look further behind the numbers.”
Still, Chandler and Eklund were encouraged that Portage County, at 11.1 percent of all residents uninsured, remains ahead of the state average, which dropped from 11.9 percent to 11.5 percent.
Of the 10 Ohio cities reported by the Census Bureau, Canton had the highest percentage of uninsured residents at 19.5 percent. Akron was fourth-highest at 16.3 percent. Others were: Dayton, 18.1 percent; Cleveland 16.7; Columbus 15.6; Cincinnati 14.7; Toledo 14.1; Lorain 14; Youngstown 13.7; and Parma 13.1.
Gov. John Kasich’s office noted that fewer uninsured residents statewide may be a sign of an improving Ohio economy. “That’s encouraging. It’s still too many people. But because insurance is so often linked to employment, it’s a sign that people are going back to work tomorrow,” said Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols.
Thirty-two states have higher rates of uninsured than Ohio, which managed nearly a half-point decline year over year. Ohio now has about 1.3 million of its estimated 11.4 million residents without insurance. Nationally, 45.6 million were uninsured last year.
Nichols expects further improvement as the Ohio legislature has committed to addressing a Medicaid expansion.
“We remain convinced of their word that they will get to work on expansion,” Nichols said. “We have a lot of work to do.”
With a large Amish population, 13.7 percent of Wayne County residents were without health insurance in 2012, the fifth-highest rate among the 38 counties. Wayne also posted one of the largest gains with the rate of uninsured dropping 2.4 percentage points, the fourth-largest drop among the 38 reported counties.
Medina tied for the second-lowest rate of uninsured among the 38 reported counties. With 9.4 percent of residents uninsured in 2011, Medina dropped another two percentage points in 2012, insuring all but 7.4 percent of residents.
Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com.