Government
Uninsured population skyrockets in North Carolina
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted April 27, 2009
The number of uninsured people in North Carolina grew by 22.5% to reach 1.75 million, the fastest pace in the U.S. between 2007 and January 2009, according to a March report by the North Carolina Institute of Medicine and the University of North Carolina's Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research (link).
Rhode Island had the second largest uninsured growth rate at 22.3%, followed by Indiana at 22.0%, Nevada at 21.0% and Michigan at 20.2%.
In addition, the number of uninsured people in North Carolina grew by 322,000, a larger increase than every state except California, Florida and Texas. The decrease in coverage was driven by a doubling of North Carolina's unemployment rate to reach 10%, the researchers concluded.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/04/27/gvbf0427.htm.
