Profile of the Uninsured
Using the most recent statistics available, VHCF’s Profile of Virginia’s Uninsured 2010 provides a detailed picture of the Commonwealth’s uninsured.
One trend is overwhelmingly clear — the number of uninsured Virginians continues to increase, jumping by 44,000 between 2008 to 2009 alone.
An estimated 13.2 % of Virginians (889,000) under age 65 lacked health insurance coverage in 2009.
Other findings include:
- The majority of uninsured are part of working families.
- Nearly half (49.8%) are part of families with at least one full-time worker
- 22.6% are in families with at least one part-time worker.
- More than 67% (594,000) of Virginia’s uninsured had incomes below 200% of the federal poverty limit (FPL).
- From 2008 to 2009, the number of uninsured children dropped by 7,000 (to 133,000). This is due primarily to them obtaining coverage through the FAMIS Programs. Approximately 81,000 children who are income-eligible for the FAMIS Programs remained uninsured in 2009.
For a thorough examination of the demographic characteristics of Virginia’s uninsured, see VHCF’s full report Profile of Virginia’s Uninsured 2010.
What is the impact of being uninsured?
- Their health suffers severely: Uninsured Americans have lower five year survival rates, a higher likelihood of being diagnosed with late stage cancers, a far lower rate of receiving important screening tests, and are more likely to have preventable hospitalizations. (Source: Kaiser Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured)
- They do not receive the care they need: Low income uninsured adults in Virginia are much less likely than low-income insured adults to receive care or to have a usual source for health care, and are more likely to have unmet health needs. (Source: Virginia Health Care Insurance and Access/VHCIAS, 2004)
- Their medical needs are unmet: Almost 60 percent of low-income uninsured adults had an unmet need for care in the last year because of the financial difficulty of paying for health care.
- Their children fare more poorly: Uninsured children fare worse than insured children on medical care use measures. Just over 27 percent of uninsured children had no medical care in the previous 12 months compared to 10 percent of insured children. (Source: The State of Kids’ Coverage, SHADAC, 2006)
The most recent Profile of Virginia’s Uninsured 2010 was prepared for the Virginia Health Care Foundation by the Urban Institute and was released in April 2011. For more information on the study, methodology or results, contact VHCF at 804/828-5804.