The U.S. Census Bureau has reported changes in health insurance coverage across U.S. counties between 2022 and 2023, based on new Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE). According to the data, the uninsured rate for individuals under age 65 decreased in 194 counties and increased in 85 counties during this period.
SAHIE provides annual estimates of health insurance coverage for people under age 65 in all 3,143 counties nationwide. The statistics are broken down by sex, age groups, and income levels that correspond with eligibility thresholds for programs such as Medicaid. State-level data also include information on health coverage by race and Hispanic origin.
The report found that “1,455 or 46.3% of U.S. counties had an estimated uninsured rate below 10% in 2023, up from 45.2% of counties in 2022 and 39.2% in 2021.”
Additional findings include a slight decrease in the median county uninsured rate from previous years: “The median county uninsured rate in 2023 was 9.3%, compared to 9.4% in 2022 and 10.4% in 2021.” Among working-age adults (ages 18 to 64), the uninsured rate declined in more counties than it rose: “Uninsured rates of working-age adults (ages 18 to 64) decreased in 182 counties and increased in 51 counties.” However, among children (ages 0 to 18), fewer saw decreases: “the uninsured rates of children (ages 0 to 18) decreased in 27 counties and increased in 89 counties.”
There were differences by gender as well: “Working-age women had lower estimated uninsured rates than working-age men in 62.0% of counties (1,950).” For those living at or below the poverty line—specifically at or below138% of poverty—the median county uninsured rate dropped: “The median county uninsured rate of working-age adults living at or below138% of poverty was17.7%, down from18.6%in2022and20.3%in2021.”
Interactive data tools provided by the Census Bureau allow users to create custom tables and maps related to these statistics annually from2006to2023(https://www.census.gov/data-tools/demo/sahie).
