PRESS RELEASE

Contact:
Health Policy Institute of Ohio
(614) 224-4950

Almost Two-Thirds of Ohio Seniors Lack Dental Insurance, Almost Half Lack Vision Coverage

Columbus, OH- Almost two-thirds of Ohio seniors lack dental insurance, while almost half lack vision coverage. These are just a few of the findings of a new data brief from the Health Policy Institute of Ohio.

The Institute analyzed data from the 2004 Ohio Family Health Survey, which showed that the overall uninsured rate for all Ohioans is 10.7%, or 1.2 million people. While this means the vast majority of Ohioans have access to some form of health coverage, the data also shows that the number of Ohioans who lack specific types of health care coverage—such as dental, vision, mental health, and prescription medication coverage—is much greater that the number who are uninsured.

For example, while almost no Ohio seniors are uninsured (due to Medicare coverage), people age 65 and older lack other health coverage at extremely high rates, with 65.7% of seniors lacking dental insurance, 49.0% without vision coverage, and 28.8% without prescription medication coverage.

In addition, adults ages 18 to 64 are more likely than children to lack coverage for these health services, with 42.7% of adults and 23.3% of children lacking dental insurance, 36.2% of adults and 25.6% of children lacking vision insurance, 20.9% of adults and 8.5% of children lacking prescription medication coverage, and 23.3% of adults lacking mental health coverage (data was no available for children’s mental health coverage).

Many factors affect whether or not individuals are able to get the health care services they need. Research does show, however, that having health insurance coverage is of critical importance to receiving health care services.

“These findings show that for the average Ohio citizen, specific health coverage such as dental or vision insurance is harder to obtain than general health insurance,” said William Hayes, Ph.D., president of the Health Policy Institute of Ohio. “This doesn’t mean, though, that these types of health coverage are not important. When people lack specific health coverage, they tend to put off routine treatments like dental and eye exams until they develop more serious problems. When this happens, the cost to the health care system is much greater than if these problems had been dealt with earlier.”

For more information on this data brief, including additional data on differences of health coverage based on poverty, health status, gender and race/ethnicity, download the data brief.

The Health Policy Institute of Ohio is an independent, nonpartisan organization that forecasts health trends, analyzes key health issues, and communicates current research to Ohio policymakers, legislators, and others. For more information on the Institute, call (614) 224-4950 or go to http://www.healthpolicyohio.org.

--30--