Smart Benefits: RI’s Uninsured Down Nearly 4% in 2014

Smart Benefits: RI’s Uninsured Down Nearly 4% in 2014

According to a recent Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, the uninsured rate nationwide dropped 3.5 percentage points last year, down from 17.3% to 13.8% -- the lowest point in seven years. Rhode Island bested the average with a 3.9% decline last year.

The Gallup survey asked more than 175,000 respondents, "Do you have health insurance coverage?" during the period from January through December 2013 and the same period in 2014. New England residents in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont reported some of the lowest uninsured rates in the country – with Massachusetts having the lowest uninsured rate in the nation for the seventh consecutive year. Uninsured rates were highest in the South and the West, with Texas claiming the largest number of uninsured for the seventh consecutive year at 24.4%.

Collectively, the uninsured rate in states that both expanded Medicaid and set up their own state exchanges or partnerships in the health insurance marketplace declined significantly more last year than the rate in states that did not take these steps.

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Rob Calise is a founding partner of Cornerstone Group, where he helps clients control the costs of employee benefits by focusing on consumer driven strategies and on how to best utilize the tax savings tools the government provides. Rob serves as Chairman of the Board of United Benefit Advisors, and is a board member of the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of RI Broker Advisory Board, United HealthCare of New England Broker Advisory Board and Rhode Island Business Healthcare Advisors Council. He is also a member of the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU), American Health Insurance Association (AHIA) and the Employers Council on Flexible Compensation (ECFC), as well as various human resource associations. Rob is a graduate of Bryant University with a BS in Finance.