But the proportion of uninsured residents rises 1.3 percent, and median income slides 3.1 percent.

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, August 27, 2004

BY FELICE J. FREYER
Journal Medical Writer

Census Bureau data released yesterday show a growth in the number of Americans without health insurance, but Rhode Island held its own. The state continues to have the second-lowest percentage of uninsured people (after Minnesota) and the second-lowest percentage of uninsured children (after Vermont).

But despite its high ranking on health insurance, Rhode Island was still among 20 states that showed an increase in the percentage of uninsured people (up 1.3 percent).

The U.S. Census Bureau yesterday released its annual Current Population Survey, providing 2003 data on income, poverty and health insurance.

Rhode Island's poverty rate increased slightly, from 11 percent to 11.3 percent, and the percentage of children in poverty -- 16.2 percent -- held steady from previous years.

But Rhode Island was among 10 states where median income declined, dropping 3.1 percent to $45,205.

Yesterday, Rhode Island Kids Count, an advocacy group, gathered an array of dignitaries at Hasbro Children's Hospital, in Providence, to celebrate the state's success at making sure children have access to health coverage.

Speakers said the credit belongs to the state's RIte Care program, which offers coverage to pregnant women and low- and moderate-income children 18 and under. Thanks to RIte Care, the number of uninsured children in Rhode Island has dropped from 25,300 in 1995 to 12,000 today.

"We must ensure the state continues its wise investment in RIte Care," said Amy Lapierre, project director for Covering Kids and Families Rhode Island, a project of Kids Count and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy praised the legislature for continuing to finance RIte Care at a time when money-strapped state governments are under pressure to cut back on such programs.

Dr. Patricia A. Nolan, state health director, said credit also belongs to "all the insurers and employers who are really generous in the benefits they provide to families."

LOOKING AT the three-year average for 2001 through 2003, the Census Bureau found that 9.3 percent of Rhode Islanders were without health insurance, compared with 8.2 percent in Minnesota and 15.1 percent nationwide.

Among children alone, the numbers for those three years are lower: 4.8 percent in Rhode Island, 4.3 percent in Vermont and a national average of 11.6 percent. Texas had the highest number of uninsured children: 21.2 percent.

Asked about the 12,000 Rhode Island children who are without health insurance, Lapierre said that about 2,600 are children whose families were on RIte Care but could not afford to pay premiums.

Families with incomes above a certain level are required to pay $61, $77 or $92 per month (depending on income), and if they fail to pay for two months, they are dropped from RIte Care rolls for four months.

While doctors will usually continue to see these children during such times, often they cannot obtain medications, which can result in costly hospitalizations for children with chronic conditions such as asthma, said Brenda Whittle, senior director for membership development at Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island, an HMO that serves RIte Care enrollees.

The other uninsured children have parents who have lost their health insurance but make too much money to qualify for RIte Care, or they are children who are eligible but whose families haven't signed up or neglected to renew their RIte Care enrollment, Whittle and Lapierre said.