Health Insurance Status Varies Widely By Region And State, Says CDC

(Published June 30, 2008)

 

A new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals significant regional and state differences in health insurance coverage.  The study, based on data collected from 240,000 people under age 65 as part of the 2004-2006 National Health Interview Survey, marks the first time the CDC has compared different regions of the country by health insurance status.

 

Among the findings:

• New England had the lowest percentage of uninsured individuals under age 65, and the Southwest had the highest.  Specifically, in New England, 3.7% of children and 11% of adults were uninsured, compared with 18.2% of children and 29.9% of adults in the Southwest.
• Nationally, 67.8% of the population under age 65 had private health insurance and 13.2% had insurance through Medicaid or State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP); 16.6% were uninsured at the time of their interview.
• Nationwide, the percentage of individuals under age 65 who were uninsured for at least part of the year ranged from 10.4% in Hawaii to 31.9% in Texas. The percentage of children who were uninsured ranged from 3.7% in Massachusetts to 18.7% in Texas.

A separate report, featuring preliminary national data for 2007, revealed that 43.1 million Americans of all ages (14.5% of the population) were uninsured in 2007.  This report also showed that 8.9% of children under age 18 had no health insurance in 2007, the lowest percentage of uninsured children in the past decade.

 

Both reports are available at: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis.htm