An estimated 43.8 million Americans had no health insurance in 2008, approximately 2.8 million more than in 1997, according to new data from CDC’s National Center for ealth Statistics. The report, Health Insurance Coverage: Early Release of Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, 2008, contains new estimates of health insurance coverage for the 20 largest states, and shows Massachusetts had the lowest percentage of uninsured individuals under age 65 (3.4 percent) in 2008. In contrast, approximately one in four persons under age 65 lacked coverage in Florida and Texas, and one in five lacked coverage in Arizona, California and Georgia. Nationally, 16.7 percent of those under age 65 were uninsured in 2008. The report provides information on both private and public insurance coverage. Among the states examined, private coverage rates for people under age 65 ranged from 78.9 percent in Massachusetts to 56.2 percent in Florida. Nationally, 65.4 percent of people under age 65 had private health insurance coverage.
