Top uninsured localities include Va. college towns, Census says

Jul 29, 2010 — Richmond Times-Dispatch

Tammie Smith

Jul. 29, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia college towns such as Harrisonburg and Charlottesville have the highest rates of uninsured people under age 65, according to a federal Census report released yesterday.

The Census Bureau's Small Area Health Insurance Estimates for 2007 provides rates of uninsured for more than 3,000 counties and cities.

Among Virginia localities, Harrisonburg had the highest uninsured rate among people under 65 in 2007. The city's rate of 30.2 percent was up from 28.5 percent nonelderly uninsured in 2006. Harrisonburg is home to James Madison University.

A report released last year based on 2006 data showed similar trends in Virginia.

"As I noted last year . . . these numbers from 2007 really don't reflect the impact of the recession," said Judith A. Cash, deputy director of the Virginia Health Care Foundation, a nonprofit that awards grants to agencies providing medical, dental and mental health services to the uninsured.

"With so many Virginians having lost their jobs, the actual number of uninsured Virginians in 2010 is most likely higher than the numbers reflected in this report."

Virginia's unadjusted unemployment rate was 7 percent in June, compared to 3.2 percent in June 2007.

Statewide, 1,014,834 people under 65 in Virginia were without health insurance in 2007, for a nonelderly uninsured rate of 15.1 percent. The state rate in 2006 was 15.5 percent in comparison.

National Census figures show that the number of people overall in the United States without health insurance rose from 45.7 million in 2007 to 46.3 million in 2008, with the uninsured rate unchanged from 15.4 percent. .

In yesterday's report, Montgomery County, home to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, had a 26.2 percent uninsured rate in 2007, the second-highest rate in the state. Charlottesville, home to the University of Virginia, had the fourth highest uninsured rate of 24.6 percent. Radford, home to Radford University, was No. 10 with 21.6 percent

A Virginia Health Care Foundation report based on 2007-2008 data found that young adults in Virginia age 19-24 had a 27.5 percent uninsured rate. The Commonwealth Fund, a national nonprofit, in a series of reports examined factors such as aging off of a parent's health plan and entry-level jobs that don't offer health insurance as factors in the high uninsured rates among young adults.

The federal data released yesterday also looks at uninsured rates by income level, gender and race.

Males in Virginia were more likely than females to be uninsured -- 16.5 percent to 13.8 percent.

Blacks in Virginia were more likely than whites to be uninsured -- 18.9 percent to 11.4 percent.

Among states, Texas had the highest nonelderly uninsured rate, at 26.8 percent.

Massachusetts, which requires all residents to have health insurance and provides subsidies to help low-income people afford it, had the lowest uninsured rate, 7.8 percent in 2007.

The recently passed federal health-care reform will require people to have health insurance, with subsidies to help low-income people purchase coverage and state-run insurance exchanges offering affordable plans. Virginia and some other states have challenged the legality of the mandate.

Contact Tammie Smith at (804) 649-6572 or TLsmith@timesdispatch.com.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0177-47426014