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New Census Data Show Texas' Uninsured Rate Tops Nation

  

Authors:
Frances Deviney /(512) 320-0222 x 106
Anne Dunkelberg /(512) 320-0222 x 102
Chandra Villanueva /(512) 320-0222 x 107

September 13, 2011

The September 13 data released by the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey shows that in 2010, Texas remained the state with the highest uninsured rate in the nation at 24.6 percent. The total number of uninsured Texans is 6.2 million people, roughly 250,000 fewer than in 2009.

Children continued to lose coverage through their parents’ job-based insurance. A significant positive note for Texas was the decline for a second consecutive year in the number and percent of uninsured children. This improvement is largely due to more children signing up for Medicaid and CHIP’s public insurance (which more than made up for the loss in job-based coverage), showing the essential role of these programs in protecting children during economic hard times.

Get the full story in the links below.

Current Population Survey

• Statement: What Data Means for Texas
• Policy Page on Health Insurance
• Policy Page on Poverty
• Census Data Chart Packet

American Community Survey

• Data to be released September 22, 2011

Understanding Census Data Releases

• Fact Sheet: Understanding Census Data
• In September, the U. S. Census Bureau releases data on poverty, income, and the number of uninsured. September 13 marks the release health insurance, poverty, and income data from the Current Population Survey (CPS). September 22 marks the release additional health insurance, poverty, and income data from the American Community Survey (ACS). Although the data from these two surveys are similar, they do differ in important ways and will likely yield somewhat different numbers.
• The CPS data and the ACS data should not be compared (i.e., do not compare local uninsured rates from the ACS to statewide uninsured rates from the CPS. The surveys ask different questions at different times of the year to different populations.