The report examines the relationship between health insurance coverage, individual health status, population health and the benefits of health improvements in terms of gains in productivity of labor and personal financial stability.
According to the report:
• More than 807,000 Missourians were uninsured in 2010, and a majority of them were low-income, working adults in blue collar and service industries.
• Eighty-nine percent of individuals without health insurance fell between the ages of 18 and 64.
• A single working parent of two can earn no more than $9.59 per day to qualify for Medicaid in Missouri.
• On average, an uninsured Missourian was treated in one of the state’s hospital emergency departments every minute of every day during 2012.
• In the last eight years ER visits have increased 83 percent in Missouri, from just over 300,000 in 2004 to nearly 560,000 in 2012.
The report also notes that providing health insurance coverage to uninsured, non-elderly Missourians in the labor force is a potential solution to increasing productivity as well as the state’s GDP. For example, access to preventive care such as immunizations among workers increases the “herd immunity” of the entire labor force. This leads to fewer days being taken off due to illness and increased overall labor productivity, according to the report.
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