Health Insurance: Uninsured by State, 2005

Publication Date: September 2006

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Health

Type:

Abstract:

An estimated 15.9% of the noninstitutionalized U.S. population lacked health insurance coverage in 2005. When examined by state, estimates of the percentage uninsured ranged from a low of 8.4% in Minnesota to a high of 24.2% in Texas. Generally, states in the Midwest and New England have lower rates of uninsured, while states in the southern portion of the nation have higher shares of their populations without coverage.

These state-level estimates are based on the March 2006 Current Population Survey (CPS) and must be interpreted with caution because they are based on a sample of the population. When sampling variation is taken into account, the uninsured rate in 13 states is not different statistically from the uninsured rate nationwide. The uninsured rate is statistically lower than the national rate in 27 states and the District of Columbia, and statistically higher in the remaining 10 states. In addition to estimates of uninsurance, this report also presents state-level estimates of people's coverage through private health insurance and public health insurance.

This report will be updated every fall, when new data become available.