Idaho spends less on health care per capita than any state but South Carolina, according to a governors' task force report.
The 110-page report, discussed at the National Governors Association meeting in Seattle last week, said Idaho spent $1,726 per capita for health care in 1990.Up from $1,123 in 1980, the figure is projected to be $2,554 in 2000.
Massachusetts reported the highest per capita spending in 1990 with $3,031, while South Carolina's was the lowest at $1,689.
The report was forwarded to President Bush and congressional leaders.
"We said to the president and the speaker that we are not willing to wait until the year 2000 to solve these problems," Gov. Cecil Andrus said. "There are many people who, in two years, it will be too late for them."
The Idaho Legislature this year established a 20-member task force to study the issue of medically uninsured Idahoans and recommend potential solutions to lawmakers during the 1992 legislative session. The group, which includes health-care, insurance, business and public officials, will meet Thursday at Boise State University.
The task force has estimated that about 160,000 Idahoans, or 16 percent, do not have health insurance. It already has found that nearly 20 percent of self-employed Idahoans do not have health insurance and 20 percent of employers with fewer than 25 employees provide no coverage.
Only 7 percent of Idaho employers with more than 100 workers do not provide insurance, and the group estimates that more than 50 percent of Hispanic migrant workers are uninsured.
"Despite the breadth of employer-based insurance, a significant number of working people and their families do not have protection," the report stated.
About 75 percent of businesses cited high costs as the reason for not offering health insurance, according to a 1989 survey by the Health Insurance Association of America, cited in the governors' report.
"Even if states require employer coverage, the high cost of purchasing health insurance will continue to make it difficult for many employers and their employees to afford coverage," the report said.