Uninsured in America

In my opinion, percentages (in this case percentage of uninsured by county) tell a point of view that shows the non-native (immigrant) population along the U.S.-Mexico border is a major contributing factor to the problem of uninsured. In reality, nearly 45 million or so uninsured are scattered across major population centers in the U.S. When ranked by uninsured population, the top ten counties are:

1. Los Angeles Co., CA
2. Cook Co., IL
3. Harris Co., TX
4. Maricopa Co., AZ
5. Kings Co., NY
6. Orange Co., CA
7. San Diego Co., CA
8. Queens Co., NY
9. Dallas Co., TX
10. San Bernandino Co., CA

Nearly 10.5 million (23%) uninsured live in just 25 counties out of total 3,108 counties/jurisdictions in the lower 48. As part of disclosure, let me say this: I am a little skeptical about the whole issue of “Universal Health Care,” especially with federal govt playing the role of a mother hen. However, if there is going to be a political debate about the issue, then as a start, it would help to identify concentrations of uninsured based on actual numbers. The map below shows just that, pan around and explore the world of the uninsured.

I would not wish this on anybody, however, it would be interesting to explore spatial distribution of the unfortunate subset from the world of the insured who have gone bankrupt due to escalating health care cost when faced with life threatening diseases in their families. But that would have to wait for another post another day when such data is compiled!

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