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NUMBER OF UNINSURED CHILDREN REACHES A NEW HIGH

Volume 28, Issue 498                                             September 4, 2007

The number of uninsured children nationwide rose to a new high, from 8 million in 2005 to 8.7 million in 2006, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data. “This increase. . .means that we now have more children without coverage than at any point since the turn of the century,” said Jocelyn Guyer, deputy executive director of the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families.

The total number of people in the United States without health coverage reached 47 million (15.8 percent of the total population) in 2006. Census analysts attributed the increase to the continued decline in employer-sponsored coverage.

Among the states, the report found that Minnesota, Hawaii, Iowa, Wisconsin and Maine had the lowest rates of uninsured. Texas had the highest percentage of uninsured. (The Census used a three-year average from 2004 to 2006 to determine those figures.)

“It's a bit of a disgrace that many millions of Americans lack health insurance,” commented Michael Cannon, director of health policy at the Cato Institute. However, he said, the Bureau’s figures are inflated because it counts as "uninsured" millions of people who are either eligible for government coverage, who will regain coverage even if government does nothing, or who can purchase coverage if they want it.

Disparities were plentiful. In 2006, those who were uninsured included:

• 34.1 percent of Hispanics;
• 31.4 percent of American Indians/Alaska Natives;
• 21.7 percent of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders;
• 20.5 percent of African Americans;
• 15.5 percent of Asians; and
• 10.8 percent of non-Hispanic whites.

Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2006 is at http://www.census.gov/prod/2007pubs/p60-233.pdf

Number and Percentage of People without Health Insurance Coverage by State (numbers in thousands)
State	3-year average 2004–2006
	Number	Percentage
	Estimate	Estimate
United States	45,102	15.3
Alabama	636	14.1
Alaska	110	16.7
Arizona	1,151	19
Arkansas	482	17.5
California	6,663	18.5
Colorado	772	16.6
Connecticut	362	10.4
Delaware	106	12.5
District of Columbia	68	12.4
Florida	3,609	20.3
Georgia	1,594	17.6
Hawaii	108	8.6
Idaho	213	14.9
Illinois	1,715	13.6
Indiana	809	13.1
Iowa	271	9.3
Kansas	300	11.1
Kentucky	564	13.8
Louisiana	784	18.5
Maine	124	9.5
Maryland	755	13.5
Massachusetts	653	10.3
Michigan	1,061	10.6
Minnesota	439	8.5
Mississippi	520	18.1
Missouri	703	12.3
Montana	157	17
Nebraska	194	11.1
Nevada	451	18.3
New Hampshire	136	10.4
New Jersey	1,269	14.6
New Mexico	405	21
New York	2,513	13.2
North Carolina	1,383	16
North Dakota	69	11.1
Ohio	1,206	10.7
Oklahoma	650	18.7
Oregon	604	16.6
Pennsylvania	1,255	10.2
Rhode Island	107	10.2
South Carolina	667	16
South Dakota	88	11.6
Tennessee	791	13.4
Texas	5,501	24.1
Utah	392	15.7
Vermont	67	10.8
Virginia	981	13.2
Washington	778	12.5
West Virginia	279	15.5
Wisconsin	514	9.4
Wyoming	71	14

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2005 to 2007 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.

© Copyright 2007, State Health Notes