• Mission & Governance
• Services Overview
• How to Get Involved
• Standing Committees
• NCSL Foundation

• Issue Areas: A-Z
• State-Federal Relations
• NCSL Standing Committees
• News from D.C. and the States

• About State Legislatures
• Elections, Campaigns & Redistricting
• NCSL's StateConnect Directory
• Web Sites

• Online Guide to NCSL Services
• Staff Sections and Networks
• Meetings & Professional Development
• Staff Directories

• Meetings Calendar
• Online Registration
• Meetings Home Page
• Legislative Summit

• Bookstore
• State Legislatures Magazine
• NCSL's StateConnect Directory

INSURANCE COVERAGE

Volume 27, Issue 478                October 30, 2006

Anna C. Spencer

On August 29, the Census Bureau released its annual Current Population Survey (CPS) on poverty and health insurance coverage for 2005. There was a statistically significant growth in the uninsurance rate from 15.6 percent in 2004 to 15.9 percent in 2005. An additional 1.3 million individuals were without health insurance, raising the number of uninsured Americans to 46.6 million.  Overall, the rate of those covered by private insurance dropped to 67.7 percent (down from 68.2 percent) with the employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) rate dropping to 59.5 percent (down from 59.8 percent). In 2000, 71.9 percent of the population was covered by private insurance. 

Although there was an increase in the number of people covered by government-sponsored programs in 2005, the percentage of people enrolled remained stable at 27.3 percent. According to 2005 data, 80.2 million people were covered by a government program. More specifically:

• Medicare enrollment marginally increased from 13.6 percent to 13.7 percent, but the increase was not statistically significant;
• Medicaid enrollment remained steady at 13 percent; and 
• Coverage through military programs grew from 3.7 percent to 3.8 percent but, again, the change was not statistically significant.

State-Level Uninsurance Information: Thirty-nine states plus the District of Columbia did not experience statistically significant changes in their respective uninsurance rates between 2003–2004 and 2004–2005. Highlights of state-level data for the 2004–2005 two-year period include:

• Texas still has the highest uninsured rate at 24.5 percent. 
• Minnesota has the lowest uninsurance rate at 8.7 percent. 
• Three states (ID, IA, and NY) experienced statistically significant reductions in their uninsurance rates. 
• Eight states (AZ, CA, DE, FL, GA, SC, UT, and VT) experienced statistically significant increases in their uninsurance rates.
• Regionally, the Midwest has the lowest uninsurance rate overall (11.9 percent), followed by New England (12.3 percent), the West (18.1 percent), and the South (18.6 percent).

© Copyright 2006, State Health Notes