Since 2014, when most of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) were implemented, many more adults have acquired health insurance in Kentucky. However, many Kentucky adults still report cost as a barrier to needed health care.
The 2016 Kentucky Health Issues Poll (KHIP) found that 2 in 10 Kentucky adults (22 percent) reported that a person in their household delayed or missed getting needed medical care due to the cost, about the same as in 2015 (20 percent) and 2014 (22 percent). This is an improvement over 2009, before the ACA was implemented, when about 3 in 10 Kentuckians (32 percent) found cost to be a barrier, including nearly 6 in 10 uninsured adults (58 percent).
KHIP is sponsored by Interact for Health and the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. Results for Northern Kentucky were similar to statewide results.
Adults in fair or poor health, without insurance and with lower incomes more likely to report delayed care.
More than 3 in 10 adults with fair or poor health (33 percent) reported delayed or missed care due to cost. That compares with 17 percent of adults in excellent or very good health.
Uninsured Kentucky adults and those who earned 200% or less of the federal poverty guidelines (FPG) also were more likely to report going without or delaying needed medical care because of the cost. More than 3 in 10 uninsured adults (34 percent) reported delaying or going without care, compared with 2 in 10 insured adults (20 percent). Nearly 3 in 10 adults earning 200% FPG or less (28 percent) reported delayed care, compared with fewer than 2 in 10 earning more than 200% FPG (17 percent).
“These surveys help us determine the issues Kentucky adults are facing and how to best focus our efforts to serve their needs,” says O’dell M. Owens, M.D., M.P.H., President/CEO of Interact for Health. “Results consistently show that lower income and poor health are tied very closely to delayed care.”
Adults age 65 and older less likely to report delaying care
“Delaying care did not differ by education, sex or race,” says Kate Keller, Vice President, System Strategies, Interact for Health. “However, adults ages 65 and older were much less likely than adults ages 18 to 64 to report delaying or forgoing care – 10 percent vs. 24 percent.” Nearly all adults ages 65 and older (97 percent) had health insurance; the vast majority had Medicare.
More information about Kentuckians’ delaying or missing needed medical care, and other topics, is available at the website.
The 2016 Kentucky Health Issues Poll (KHIP) is funded by Interact for Health and the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. KHIP was conducted Sept. 11-Oct. 19, 2016, by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati. A random sample of 1,580 adults from throughout Kentucky was interviewed by telephone. This included 827 landline interviews and 753 cell phone interviews with cell phone users. In 95 of 100 cases, the statewide estimates will be accurate to ± 2.5%. There are other sources of variation inherent in public opinion studies, such as non-response, question wording or context effects that can introduce error or bias.