Nearly fifth of area residents lack health care
By Tiffany Sun
October 10, 2008
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| Nearly 20 percent of Washington-area residents do not have health insurance, according to Census Bureau figures released Thursday. |
SPECIAL TO THE EXAMINER — Nearly 20 percent of Washington-area residents do not have health insurance, according to Census Bureau figures released Thursday.
In the District of Columbia, 13.8 percent of the population under 65 — roughly 70,000 people — had no medical insurance in 2005, which are the most recent findings from the Census Bureau.
At 20.3 percent, Arlington County carries the highest percentage of uninsured residents in Northern Virginia. At 17.7 percent, Alexandria carries the second-highest percentage.
The rate of uninsured in Prince William County was 15.5 percent, in Fairfax County 15.2 percent, and 10.5 percent in Loudoun County.
In Maryland, the two counties with the highest percentages are Prince George’s at 20 percent and Montgomery at 17 percent.
“According to the Census Bureau report, that means that 18 states do better than we in covering people for health insurance, but 32 states do worse. D.C. is in the top third of states with the least percentage of uninsured, but that’s better than the national average of 16 percent,” said LaShon Beamon, a spokesman at the D.C. Department of Health.
The census included only people younger than 65 because they are ineligible for Medicare, the federal health insurance program designed for the elderly.
The number of uninsured residents in the United States has been creeping up, according to the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Most recently, the number of uninsured under 65 grew by about 3.5 million between 2004 and 2006.
D.C.’s uninsurance rate is comparatively low — Maryland’s percentage is 14.9 percent and Virginia’s is 14.5 percent — which Beamon credits to Medicaid and the D.C. Healthcare Alliance, two expansive public insurance programs.
These programs cover almost 200,000 residents, he said.
The majority of U.S. residents younger than 65 get health insurance through their employers.
“While Medicare covers all of the elderly, the people aged under 65 who do not have access to or cannot afford private insurance go without health coverage unless they qualify for the Medicaid program, [State Children’s Health Insurance Program], or other state-subsidized insurance programs,” the Kaiser Commission said.
The number of uninsured may increase as the economy worsens and people lose their jobs and health coverage, or can’t afford their health insurance premiums, Beamon said.
