|
March
13, 2007
EMBARGOED UNTIL 12am, March 14, 2007 CONTACT:
Sharon Kayne, Communications Director, New Mexico Voices for Children
505-244-9505
ext. 30 (p), 505-401-8709 (c), 505-244-9509 (f), skayne@nmvoices.org Analysis:
NM's Low-Income Parents
Losing Health Benefits Faster ALBUQUERQUE-New
analysis released today shows that, over the last decade, low-income families
have been losing employer-sponsored health coverage three times faster than high-income
families. Nationally, only 47% of parents with low and moderate incomes ($40,000
or less for a family of four) are offered health insurance by their employer,
while 78% of parents earning $80,000 or more have this critical benefit. The
vast majority of New Mexico's uninsured children - 85,000 or 70% - live in families
with low and moderate incomes. An even higher percentage of uninsured children
- 84% - live in a household where someone works full-time. "The
steady loss of health insurance benefits through employers underscores the importance
of our government's role in helping parents keep their children healthy so they
can reach their full potential," said Bill Jordan, Policy Director for NM
Voices for Children. Most of the state's uninsured
children are likely eligible for free or low-cost health coverage through either
Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), both of which
rely heavily on federal funding. Created in 1997, SCHIP is due for reauthorization
this year. "Congress has a unique opportunity
this year with S-Chip to fill in the health insurance gap for children whose working
parents can't count on their employers for health benefits," said Jordan.
"New Mexico's congressional delegation will play an important role in the
reauthorization of this critical program." The
New York Times called for support of the program in an editorial in Monday's paper.
"Medicaid and S-Chip have been remarkably effective in reducing the number
of uninsured children while the number of uninsured adults keeps increasing,"
wrote the Times editors. "That is a success worth building on, not diminishing,"
they concluded (www.nytimes.com). The
study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation's largest philanthropy
devoted to improving health and health care (www.rwjf.org/). To read the whole
report, go to www.covertheuninsured.org.
### New
Mexico Voices for Children is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization advocating
for policies to improve the
health and well-being of New Mexico's children,
families and communities.
2340 Alamo SE, Suite 120, Albuquerque, NM 87106;
505-244-9505 (p); www.nmvoices.org
| 
