The home page of the HealthSource RI website is seen on a laptop screen. (Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
The number of Rhode Islanders without health insurance remains encouragingly small, according to the latest Rhode Island Health Information Survey by the state’s health plan marketplace, HealthSource RI.
The latest survey estimates 2.2% of Rhode Islanders are uninsured, compared to 2.9% in the previous survey conducted in 2022.
That drop is within the survey’s margin of error of plus 1.3% or minus 0.8%. But a HealthSource news release Tuesday suggested the low uninsured rate can still be read as a good omen since Medicaid renewals returned this year for the first time since the pandemic, representing a possible obstacle to people’s continued coverage in the income-limited program.
“This incredible rate of near-universal coverage for Rhode Island is a mark of the maturing of our state-based marketplace, built for and tailored to the needs of Rhode Islanders,” Lindsay Lang, HealthSource RI’s director, said in a statement Tuesday.
“HSRI has been collaborating more closely than ever with our partners at Medicaid to ensure continuity of coverage for thousands, our small employer services continue to grow and meet the needs of the state’s businesses and nonprofits, and increasingly families and individuals look to us for their coverage needs,” Lang added.
The national uninsured rate was about 8% in 2022, according to American Community Survey data. HealthSource’s statement relayed that national data from 2023 reaffirmed Rhode Island outperforming the national average, but that the federal use of “different methodology…makes direct comparison with the Health Information Survey difficult.”
The 2.2% uninsured Rhode Islanders account for approximately 24,000 people. Even more people might be affected by underinsurance, lackluster coverage and pricey out-of-pocket costs, according to HealthSource. Demographic disparities remain, especially along racial lines: 7.1% of the Hispanic population is uninsured, as are 4.1% of Black Rhode Islanders, while white Rhode Islanders are uninsured at a rate of 1.3% the survey found.
People born outside the U.S. had an 8.8% uninsured rate. Full-time workers didn’t have better coverage overall — in fact, people working full-time had a 3.9% uninsured rate, higher than the state average.
But the survey did exhibit positive outcomes for kids 17 and younger, who saw an uninsured rate of 0.2%. Middle-aged Rhode Islanders aged 45 to 64 had a 1.8% uninsured rate. Young adults, or those aged 18 to 25, resumed a 12-year downward trend and were uninsured at 3.5%.
People ages 26 to 35 — which includes those no longer eligible to stay on their parents’ health insurance — continue to descend from a high point of 26% uninsured in 2012. The new survey shows the uninsured rate in this population went from 7.6% in 2022 to 6.4% in 2023.
Gov. Dan McKee shared a statement on the overall positive numbers: “I’m proud that even through the reintroduction of the annual Medicaid renewal process at the end of the pandemic, Rhode Island has done a remarkable job of keeping its citizens covered and even achieved its lowest ever uninsured rate.”
HealthSource has done six Health Information Surveys since 2012. Questions cover topics like insurance status, costs of care, experience and use of medical services, and demographic details. The latest survey was conducted online and by phone and about 7,500 Rhode Islanders participated across 2,900 households. This year’s entire survey is available on the HealthSource RI website.
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