Census survey puts Oklahoma in top five for uninsured

 
BY PAUL MONIES | Published: September 22, 2009    Comment on this article Leave a comment

Nearly one in four Tulsa and Oklahoma City residents younger than 65 had no health insurance coverage last year, according to Census estimates.

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Survey highlights at a glance

→Oklahoma was the only state to show employment increases in construction, energy and maintenance and repair occupations from 2007 to 2008. The state gained about 15,000 jobs in those industries in 2008.

→Median property values in Oklahoma fell 1.4 percent in 2008 from the prior year. The median property value across the state was $105,500 in 2008.


• Household incomes dipped slightly in 2008. Oklahoma households had a median income of $42,822, down from $43,005 in 2007. The U.S. median is $52,029.

→About 80 percent of Oklahoma employees drove alone to their workplaces last year, exceeding the national rate of 75.5 percent.



Oklahoman's without health insurance

Percent of cities’ population under 65 years of age without health insurance:

→Tulsa: 24.54

→Oklahoma City: 23.11

→Lawton: 18.44

→Norman: 16.13

→Edmond: 13.17

→Broken Arrow: 12.06

Source: 2008 American Community Survery

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The uninsured rate in Tulsa was 24.5 percent, while in Oklahoma City it was 23.1 percent. Statewide, about 22 percent of Oklahomans younger than 65 had no health insurance from either private or government sources.

The figures come from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, which for the first time last year asked respondents about their health insurance status.

The latest release covers geographic areas with more than 65,000 people.

Nationally, about 17 percent of the population younger than 65 had no health insurance coverage last year, according to survey estimates. That translates into about 44.5 million people.

Texas had the highest rate of residents under 65 with no coverage at 26.5 percent. Next was Florida, followed by New Mexico, Nevada and Oklahoma.

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