US News

Ranks of uninsured are dwindling in NYC

Bucking the national trend of a rising number of uninsured, New York City has provided health coverage to more than 1 million additional residents over the past decade.

The shrinking pool of uninsured is largely thanks to state and city programs that expanded coverage for low-income families and aggressively bolstered enrollment in existing programs.

Currently, there are 2.7 million city residents enrolled in Medicaid and other public-health insurance programs — an increase of 1,027,056, or about 60 percent, since 2002, according to Mayor Bloomberg’s Citywide Office on Health Insurance Access.

In addition, 90 percent of the city’s children — including kids of “undocumented” immigrants — now have coverage through state programs such as Child Health Plus and Family Health Plus.

These efforts have cut the rate of New York’s uninsured to 18 percent of the city population in 2007 — the most recent data available — from 26 percent in 2001, according to the United Hospital Fund of New York.

By contrast, the number of uninsured in the United States actually surged by 3 million — or 6.5 percent since 2002 — to 46 million.

National health-care reform should not penalize New York for having already expanded coverage to more citizens, city officials and advocates said.

“The question is: Will there be additional federal dollars for states like New York that have been at the forefront of Medicaid expansion?” said Marjorie Cadogan, executive deputy commissioner of citywide health insurance access.

Despite the gains, there are still 1.3 million city residents and 2.5 million in the state who lack health coverage.

And there’s evidence that the deep recession has triggered a recent bump in the uninsured.

The number of uninsured residents treated at the city’s network of public hospitals and clinics swelled to 450,000 last year — a 12.5 percent increase from the 400,000 treated in 2007, said Pam McDonnell, a spokeswoman for the municipal Health and Hospitals Corp.

Meanwhile, President Obama launched his effort to regain the initiative in the health-care debate yesterday by telling supporters “the time is now” for reform.

At a Labor Day celebration in Cincinnati, Obama said health insurance should work as well for all Americans as it does for insurance companies.

Insurers “should be free to make a profit. But they also have to be fair. They also have to be accountable,” Obama said.

“That’s what we’re talking about: security and stability for folks who have health insurance, help for those who don’t, coverage they need at a price they can afford, finally bringing costs under control. That’s the reform that’s needed.”

His remarks gave hints of what he may say in tomorrow night’s prime-time speech to a joint session of Congress. Supporters hope the speech will provide details of what Obama wants in legislation and help regain the center stage that critics seized during Washington’s summer recess.

Also, Max Baucus of Montana, a key Senate Democrat, has circulated a new plan that leaves out the controversial public option but adds a fee on the industry to help cover the uninsured.

With Andy Soltis and Post Wire Services

carl.campanile@nypost.com