Health insurance lags most in Southwest, CDC says

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: Associated Press

ATLANTA - The Southwest has the lowest health insurance coverage in the country, with 30 percent of non-elderly adults and 18 percent of children uninsured, according to a new government study.

New England — with a rate of uninsured people less than half that of the Southwest — has the largest proportion of its population covered, the study found.

The study marks the first time the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has compared different regions of the country by health insurance status, said Robin Cohen, the lead researcher.

Cohen declined to theorize why Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma together have higher rates of uninsured people than other parts of the country.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080625/ap_on_he_me/med_health_insurance

[mrreowwr_kittty]

1. I'll theorize for Arizona: Right To Work state and a wingnut legislature. nt

[Lone_Star_Dem]

5. Covers Texas as well. n/t

[Warpy]

2. HMOs in NM control more than 90% of the market

and they're incredibly picky about who they'll cover.

The only reason NM is as well insured as they say it is is because of the Indian Health Services, something that isn't good by any means but which covers all tribal people in the state.

Without that, I think our uninsured rate would be damned close to half.

[izquierdista]

3. Short drive to Mexico

Where you can buy reasonably priced health CARE, instead of worrying about whether health INSURANCE will cover it.

At least at a casino, if you win big, they take your picture and treat you like a celebrity for a few minutes; with health insurance, if you have a big claim, they treat you like a nobody and deny you the coverage.

[raccoon]

4. I would've guessed it was the Southeast. Reason is because unions are,

have always been IME, rare in those states. Employers will always do as little for employees as they possibly can. Without union contracts, workers are totally at the mercy of the employer.