west
The council of state governments | 2012
The Book of the States 2012
Facts & Figures
National and Regional Analysis of
Uninsured Populations
National Analysis »
`` According to the Census Bureau, 49.9 million people nationally
were without health insurance coverage in 2010.1 The uninsured rate has been rising over the past 10 years—from 13.5
percent in 2001 to 16.3 percent in 2010.
`` Massachusetts had the highest percentage of insured residents
(94 percent), followed by Hawaii (92 percent) and Minnesota (90
percent). Texas had the fewest residents insured at 75 percent, with
Nevada and Florida (both with 79 percent) close behind.
`` The majority of the population—64 percent—was covered by
private health insurance in 2010. That percentage has been falling over the past 10 years; in 2001, it was 72 percent. More than
half (55 percent) of the population was insured by employmentbased health insurance in 2010, declining from 56 percent in
2009 and 64 percent in 2001.
`` From 2001 to 2010, the percentage of those insured by government health insurance has grown from 25 to 31 percent, primarily due to growth in Medicaid enrollment.
`` The youngest and oldest members of society are most likely to
be insured: 91 percent of those under age 6 and 98 percent of
those over age 65 were insured in 2010. The age group of those
25 to 34 had the smallest percentage of insured individuals—72
percent in 2010.
Percentage of National Population
Without Insurance, 2001-10
Regional Analysis »
`` 82.1 percent of the residents in CSG’s Western region were
insured in 2010.2 CSG’s Eastern region had the highest percentage of insured residents in 2010, as 87.6 percent of the region’s
residents had insurance coverage, followed closely by the Midwest with 87.1 percent coverage. CSG's Southern region had a
coverage rate of 82.1 percent.
`` In 2010, state insurance coverage rates in the West ranged
from a low of 78.4 percent in New Mexico and 78.7 percent in
Nevada to a high of 92.3 percent in Hawaii and 87 percent in
Colorado.
`` In the Western region, 62 percent of the population was covered
by private insurance, lower than the national rate of 64 percent.
The percentage of the regional population that had employment-based coverage—52 percent—also was lower than the
national average of 55 percent.
`` As at the national level, those over 65 and younger than 18
fared the best with respect to insurance coverage in the Western
region. Close to 100 percent of those older than 65 in Utah,
Oregon and Colorado had coverage in 2010. Three states—California (96 percent), Arizona (97 percent) and Alaska (97 percent)—had less coverage for this age group than the national
average of 98 percent.
`` Five of the 13 states in the region (Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho,
Montana and Washington) had a coverage rate for those
younger than 18 equal to or higher than the national average
of 91 percent in 2010. Coverage rates ranged from a low of 82
percent in Nevada and 85 percent in Arizona to a high of 98
percent in Hawaii and 94 percent in Washington.
RESOURCES
1
Statistics used throughout this report are calculated using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey
(CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC), 2001-2010.
2
A “coverage rate” is the percentage of a population with health insurance coverage as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Regional coverage rates are calculated by determining the percentage of the total population (the total number of residents
across each of the states within a CSG region) that had insurance coverage (the total number of insured residents across
each of the states within a CSG region) in a particular year. See the U.S. Census Bureau report, Income, Poverty and Health
Insurance Coverage in the United States, for more details on how the insured population is counted.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC), Income, Poverty
and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States, 2001-2010
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT WWW.CSG.ORG/BOOKOFTHESTATES
 A Product of Capitol Research
HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE STATUS BY STATE & BY REGION : 2010 (In thousands)
Covered
State or other
jurisdiction




United States
EAST REGION
Connecticut
Delaware
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
Regional total
MIDWEST REGION
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Michigan
Minnesota
Nebraska
North Dakota
Ohio
South Dakota
Wisconsin
Regional total
SOUTH REGION
Alabama
Arkansas
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
Louisiana
Mississippi
Missouri
North Carolina
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
West Virginia
REGIONAL TOTAL
WEST REGION
Alaska
Arizona
California
Colorado
Hawaii
Idaho
Montana
Nevada
New Mexico
Oregon
Utah
Washington
Wyoming
Regional total
Regional total w/o CA
Dist. of Columbia
Not covered
Total Population
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
306,110
256,206
83.7%
49,904
16.3%
3,497
881
1,285
5,727
6,616
1,302
8,672
19,289
12,453
1,048
622
61,390
3,113
782
1,164
4,979
6,246
1,168
7,334
16,403
11,085
928
563
53,764
89.0
88.7
90.6
86.9
94.4
89.7
84.6
85.0
89.0
88.6
90.5
87.6
384
99
121
747
370
134
1,338
2,886
1,368
119
59
7,626
11.0
11.3
9.4
13.1
5.6
10.3
15.4
15.0
11.0
11.4
9.5
12.6
12,901
6,359
2,962
2,757
9,772
5,186
1,788
635
11,349
806
5,610
60,126
10,986
5,505
2,597
2,407
8,500
4,678
1,551
552
9,795
701
5,084
52,356
85.2
86.6
87.7
87.3
87.0
90.2
86.7
86.9
86.3
87.0
90.6
87.1
1,914
855
366
350
1,271
509
237
83
1,554
105
526
7,770
14.8
13.4
12.3
12.7
13.0
9.8
13.3
13.1
13.7
13.0
9.4
12.9
4,672
2,880
18,531
9,832
4,292
4,432
2,929
5,979
9,248
3,673
4,526
6,311
25,154
7,771
1,807
112,037
3,951
2,341
14,677
7,927
3,653
3,545
2,311
5,143
7,673
3,049
3,596
5,381
18,973
6,675
1,564
90,460
84.6
81.3
79.2
80.6
85.1
80.0
78.9
86.0
83.0
83.0
79.4
85.3
75.4
85.9
86.5
80.7
720
539
3,854
1,905
640
886
618
835
1,575
624
930
930
6,181
1,096
244
21,577
15.4
18.7
20.8
19.4
14.9
20.0
21.1
14.0
17.0
17.0
20.6
14.7
24.6
14.1
13.5
19.3
693
6,703
37,223
5,050
1,257
1,531
971
2,639
2,015
3,777
2,829
6,723
537
71,949
34,725
608
568
5,420
30,014
4,393
1,160
1,238
795
2,076
1,580
3,165
2,443
5,797
444
59,094
29,079
532
82.0
80.9
80.6
87.0
92.3
80.8
81.9
78.7
78.4
83.8
86.4
86.2
82.7
82.1
83.7
87.5
125
1,283
7,209
656
97
294
176
563
435
612
386
927
93
12,855
5,646
76
18.0
19.1
19.4
13.0
7.7
19.2
18.1
21.3
21.6
16.2
13.6
13.8
17.3
17.9
16.3
12.5
Jennifer Burnett, CSG Program Manager, Research Services and Special Projects | [email protected]
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2011
Annual Social and Economic Supplement, http://www.census.
gov/hhes/www/cpstables/032011/health/toc.htm
Note: Unrelated individuals under 15 are included.
You can find this data (Tables 9.11-9.12) and much more
in CSG's annual publication, The Book of the States, now
available online!
http://knowledgecenter.csg.org/drupal/view-content-type/1219
The Council of AState
Productgovernments
of Capitol Research