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42 Million went Uninsured in 2013, Census Data Reveal

By Cheri Cheng | Update Date: Sep 17, 2014 10:12 AM EDT

According to the most recent data, the United States Census Bureau revealed that 42 million Americans, which make up 13.4 percent of the population, did not have health insurance in 2013. The estimates found that the most vulnerable group was adults aged 19 to 64. In this age group, one in five, or 18.5 percent, did not have health insurance.

The report also found many regional differences. The states with lower rates of uninsured people were Massachusetts, Hawaii, Vermont, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. On the other end of the spectrum, the states with the highest rate of uninsured residents were Texas, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and New Mexico.

"We will likely see some modest declines in the uninsured rate for sure and maybe some substantial declines next year," said Donna Friedsam, director of health policy programs at the Population Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison according to the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. In Wisconsin, the uninsured rate is at 9.1 percent.

Furthermore, the estimates found that 9.7 percent of children under 19-years-old were uninsured. When categorized based on income, 9.8 percent of children living in poverty did not have health insurance whereas 7.0 percent of children not living in poverty did not have insurance.

In terms of ethnic backgrounds, 9.8 percent of non-Hispanic Whites and 24.3 percent of Hispanics did not have health insurance. For African-Americans, the uninsured rate was 15.9 percent.

The Census Bureau reported that 169 million people, or 53.95 percent, had health insurance through an employer where as 34.5 million (11 percent) bought health insurance. 54.1 million people, or 17.3 percent, were covered through Medicaid and 49 million people (15.6 percent) had Medicare.

The report, "Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2013," can be accessed here.

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