Aug 10
24
California’s Uninsured Rate Exceeds 24%
The Los Angeles Times (8/24, Hennessy-Fiske) reports in its “LA Now” blog that the “number of Californians who lost jobs and health insurance probably increased in every county last year, according to a study released Monday by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.” The new analysis “found that 37 counties — including Imperial, Kern and Shasta — had uninsured rates above the statewide average of 24.3%.” The report “backs up the findings of a previous study the center released in March that showed nearly one in four Californians lack health insurance. According to the latest estimates, the state’s uninsured population has reached 24.3%, or about 8.4 million, up from 6.4 million in 2007.”
The Los Angeles Daily Breeze (8/24, Evans) says that nearly “a third of Los Angeles County residents lack health insurance, according to one of the first reports looking at numbers that include the recent economic recession.” Los Angeles County, “the most populous county in the state, had one of the highest rates of uninsured residents: 28.9 percent of non-elderly adults and children, or 2.7 million people, lack coverage.”