An annual statewide poll shows that one-quarter of Kentucky adults are without health insurance.
The Kentucky Health Issues Poll is funded by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. That group's President and CEO, Susan Zepeda, says an even higher number of adults in the commonwealth was without coverage for at least part of 2013.
"Three in ten Kentucky adults were uninsured at some point in the last 12 months, which really underscores the need for helping people get access to insurance," says Dr. Zepeda.
Zepeda says the recent poll is important because it sets a baseline for how many Kentuckians have health insurance, and from what sources, ahead of the broader impacts of the federal Affordable Care Act.
That baseline, Zepeda says, will help policy analysts determine how much effect the changes related to the ACA are having on individuals and states.
Other findings from the latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll:
*44 percent of Kentucky adults age 18 to 64 are insured through their employer or spouse's employer.
*20 percent of that same group receives some form of public insurance, through programs including Medicare, Medicaid, and military benefits
*34 percent of Kentucky adults with incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level report being currently uninsured
The Kentucky Health Issues Poll is based on 1,551 phone interviews conducted over a month-long period last fall.
