Texas Leads Nation in Percentage without Health Coverage

August 30, 2007

Texas led all states in the percentage of residents without health insurance, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report.

Texas had an uninsured rate of 24 percent for the years 2004-2006, the report said. The report attributed the high rate to the state's growing population of Hispanics. The Census Bureau deemed Texas a majority-minority state two years ago.

Following Texas were New Mexico and Florida, which both had uninsured rates topping 20 percent. Minnesota and Hawaii came in at the bottom, both below 10 percent.

The Census report, which came out Tuesday, said Texas has 5.5 million people without health insurance coverage. California was the only state to have a higher number of uninsured, with 6.7 million people.

Nationally, 45.1 million people have no health coverage, the report said.