Census Statistics on Health Insurance Coverage Released -- October 2, 2003 -- California Capitol Hill Bulletin -- Volume 10, Bulletin 28

According to a new U.S. Census Bureau Report, titled "Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2002" and released on September 30, 2003, California has the largest number of people without health insurance of any state in the nation. California ranked sixth on the list of the states with the highest percentage of the uninsured (18.2 percent), or 6.4 million people. The 2002 figures for the state represent a decrease from the 19.5 percent of uninsured in California in 2001.

In the rest of the nation, the number of people with health insurance rose by 1.5 million to 242.4 million in 2002. At the same time, the number of uninsured increased by 2.4 million, up to 43.6 million in 2002, or 15.2 percent of the total U.S. population. The proportion of insured children did not change in 2002, remaining at 64.8 million (88.4 percent of all children); the number of children without health insurance also remained unchanged at 8.5 million (or 11.6 percent nationwide). Nearly a quarter of all children (23.9 percent) were covered by Medicaid.

For more information about this data, please visit the U.S. Census Bureau website at: http://www.census.gov .

To expand communications between Washington and California, the California Institute provides periodic bulletins regarding current activity on Capitol Hill that directly impacts our state. Bulletins are published weekly during sessions of Congress, and occasionally during other periods.

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