Uninsured Rate Increases

• The number of people with health insurance coverage increased by 1.4 million to 247.3 million between 2004 and 2005, and the number without such coverage rose by 1.3 million to 46.6 million (from 15.6 percent in 2004 to 15.9 percent in 2005).
• Between 2004 and 2005, people covered by employment-based health insurance (174.8 million) declined from 59.8 percent to 59.5 percent.
• While the number of people covered by government health programs increased between 2004 and 2005, from 79.4 million to 80.2 million, the percentage of people covered by government health insurance remained at 27.3 percent. There was no statistical difference in the number or percentage of people covered by Medicaid (38.1 million and 13.0 percent, respectively) between 2004 and 2005.
• The proportion and number of uninsured children increased between 2004 and 2005, from 10.8 percent to 11.2 percent and from 7.9 million to 8.3 million, respectively.

• The uninsured rate, as well as the number of uninsured, remained statistically unchanged from 2004 to 2005 for non-Hispanic whites (at 11.3 percent and 22.1 million) and for blacks (at 19.6 percent and 7.2 million). The rate for Asians increased to 17.9 percent in 2005, up from 16.5 percent in 2004. The number of uninsured Asians was 2.3 million, up from 2 million.
• The uninsured rate for Hispanics, who may be of any race, was 32.7 percent in 2005 — statistically unchanged from 2004. The number of uninsured Hispanics increased from 13.5 million to 14.1 million.
• Based on a three-year average (2003-2005), 29.9 percent of people who reported American Indian and Alaska Native as their race were without coverage. The three-year average for Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders was 21.8 percent.

• Between 2004 and 2005, the uninsured rate for the population born in the United States increased from 13.1 percent to 13.4 percent. The uninsured rate for the foreign-born population was statistically unchanged at 33.6 percent. The number of uninsured naturalized citizens increased from 2.3 million in 2004 to 2.5 million in 2005. The uninsured rate for naturalized citizens remained statistically unchanged at 17.9 percent. The number and rate for noncitizens also remained statistically unchanged at 9.5 million and 43.6 percent, respectively, in 2005.

• The uninsured rate for those in the South increased from 18.2 percent to 18.6 percent between 2004 and 2005 and in the West from 17.4 percent in 2004 to 18.1 percent in 2005. (The 2005 uninsured rates in the South and West were not statistically different.) The Midwest and Northeast had the lowest uninsured rates in 2005, at 11.9 percent and 12.3 percent, respectively. Neither region experienced a statistical change in its rate from 2004. (The uninsured rates for the Midwest and Northeast were not statistically different from one another in 2005.)
• There were 19.8 million uninsured people in the South, compared to 12.4 million in the West. The approximate numbers of uninsured were 7.8 million in the Midwest and 6.7 million in the Northeast.

• Uninsured rates for 2003-2005 using a three-year average show that Texas (24.6 percent) had the highest percentage of uninsured, while Minnesota (8.7 percent) had the lowest. Minnesota’s rate was not statistically different from that of Hawaii (9.5 percent).
• The data shows that poor diet and physical inactivity may soon overtake tobacco as the leading cause of death. These findings, along with escalating health care costs and aging population, argue persuasively that the need to establish health insurance coverage has become more urgent.