Uninsured Rate Fell in Most Counties in 2016: Census Bureau

By Allison Bell

News March 30, 2018 at 01:27 PM

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Map showing where adults ages 18 to 64 were uninsured in 2016 (High in Texas and Florida, low around Great Lakes states other than Indiana)

In 2016, the uninsured rate for people under age 65 stayed about the same in typical counties, improved in many counties, and deteriorated in just a few.

Analysts at the U.S. Census Bureau reported that finding Thursday, in a summary of results from a newly released batch of Small Area Health Insurance Estimates survey data.

Analysts found that the overall uninsured rate for people under age 65 sayed about the same between 2015 and 2016 in 2,505 counties, got better in 629 counties, and got worse in eight.

The bureau has posted the summary, links to graphics based on the data and other resources here.

Agents who want to sell individual major medical insurance, or major medical alternatives, might be especially interested in what happened to the uninsured rate for working adults, ages 18 to 64, with income from 138% to 400% of the federal poverty level. Those people may have at least some ability to pay for commercial insurance products.

A bureau map, that's separate from the main summary document, shows that the uninsured rate for working-age, middle-income adults remained over 25% in many counties in Alaska, Florida and Texas, and in some counties in the northern Mountain State region.

The uninsured rate for working-age, middle-income adults was below 10% in most counties around the Great Lakes states, except in Indiana.

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