New Study Reports 10.7% Uninsured Rate in Sacramento Region
Nearly 200,000 people in the Sacramento region lack health insurance, according to a new study that provides the first "regional snapshot" of the uninsured in Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer and Yolo counties, the Sacramento Bee reports. Researchers at California State University-Sacramento's Institute for Social Research conducted a telephone survey of 839 households in March, the results of which were released today. Here are a few of the study's main findings:
- The overall percentage of uninsured residents in the region is 10.7%; Sacramento County has the region's highest uninsured rate at 12.3%, followed by Yolo at 9.5%, El Dorado at 7.8% and Placer at 5.2%.
- Latinos constitute 20% of the region's 191,600 uninsured residents. American Indians account for 15% of the region's uninsured.
- With an uninsured rate of 19.8%, males ages 18-30 are the group most likely to lack coverage. Females in the same age group have an uninsured rate of 17.1%.
The Bee reports that these findings "are similar" to the results of a UCLA Center for Health Policy Research study that concluded that the Sacramento region's uninsured rate is 15.9%. The UCLA study put the overall number of uninsured Californians at 6.8 million, or 22.4% of the state's population (Chan, Sacramento Bee, 6/19).
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