Who are the medically uninsured in the United States?

The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) analysis of the March 1993 Current Population Survey revealed that 38.9 million Americans had no private or public health insurance during 1992. This number was up some 2.3 million over that for 1991, an increase larger than was experienced from 1989 through 1991. The proportion of the total population without such insurance also steadily increased, rising from 14.3 percent in 1989 to 15.4 percent in 1992. In 1992, 38.5 million nonelderly Americans, or 17.4 percent of those under age 65, had no health insurance, up 4.1 million since 1989. A primary reason for the rising number of the nonelderly uninsureds was a decline in health coverage among individuals (and their families) working for small firms. Among the total U.S. population, close to 59 percent received employment-based coverage. Of the remainder, Medicare accounted for just over 13 percent of the coverage, Medicaid for just over 11 percent and individually purchased private sources other than an employer or union for almost 12 percent. The New England region had the lowest proportion of medically uninsureds (almost 12 percent) and the West South Central the highest (over 25 percent). By state, Hawaii and Connecticut reported the lowest percentage of medically uninsureds, whereas Nevada, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas reported the highest proportions in 1992.