University Study Finds 117,000 Oregon Children Lack Health Insurance 

PORTLAND, Ore.

      More than 117,000 children in Oregon lack health insurance and the number is rising, according to a new study.

      The Oregon Health & Science University study said the percentage of uninsured children increased from 10.1 percent in 2002 to 12.3 percent in 2004.

      The statewide survey showed that children most likely to be without health insurance are low-income, Hispanic, teenagers 14 and older whose families are just above the federal poverty level, and had one employed parent and one uninsured parent.

      Dr. Jen DeVoe, a family medicine researcher who led the study, said she heard many individual stories about the lack of health care for children.

      One patient, a woman who was employed full time and had employer health insurance for herself, asked DeVoe to check her son because she did not have health insurance for him and had been unable to see his pediatrician.

      DeVoe said the woman's employer had stopped covering children and could not afford to pay a separate insurance premium for her son because it was more than her monthly income. But she also couldn't qualify for the Oregon Health Plan because her family income was too high.

      ``Her son was really sick,'' DeVoe said. ``I was heartbroken to realize that she had no options whatsoever.''

      Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who has launched a state effort to improve access to health care, said the lack of children's health insurance threatens the quality of education and the economy.

      ``No society can expect to achieve and maintain prosperity while compromising the health of its children,'' Kulongoski said.