Health Scare

   Throughout America, fewer men have health insurance than women. Moreover, "There are more uninsured working-age adults than uninsured children," according to the U.S. Census.
   Only 50 of the 3,143 counties in the United States ( 1.6 percent) can say that most of their population have health insurance. Only 50 counties can say that fewer than 10 percent of the working-age population are uninsured. In some counties, more than half (52.5 percent) of adults have no health insurance.

  On a state level, the Census analysis found that as many as 25 percent of a state's population under age 65 have no health insurance. Uninsured rates varied from a low of 4.9 percent to 25.7 percent. And in some counties, the proportion of those under 65 without health insurance was as high as 46 percent.
   On a county level, the median uninsured rate for people of working age (18 to 64) was 21.5 percent. For those under 19, the county median was 7.7 percent, the report said.
   The analysis covered health insurance availability during 2011. In every state, the report said, the uninsured rate was highest for Hispanics, followed by non-Hispanic blacks. Moreover, low-income groups were more likely to lack health insurance. On a county level, the uninsured rate ranged from 10.7 percent to 43.6 percent, and for blacks, the range of those without health insurance was from 6.6 percent to 29.1 percent.

  Texas leads the nation in the number of those without health insurance -- more than 25 percent of its population. Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Alaska, Georgia, Montana, Mississippi, California, Arkansas and Louisiana follow with uninsured rates of 20 percent of more.
   Only Massachusetts, home of Romneycare, the statewide mandate for universal health coverage, posted less than 5 percent of its population as lacking health coverage. 

   All data are from 2011. Whether things have improved measurably in less than two years is another question. Meanwhile, here's a link to the full Census Bureau report:   
http://www.census.gov/did/www/sahie/data/2011/SAHIE_Highlights_2011.pdf