Uninsured in North Carolina
Thursday, October 09 2008
by Rose Hoban
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A new report from the US Census looks at who in North Carolina lacks health insurance. The numbers show counties Down East and in the mountains have the highest numbers of uninsured adults. Mountainous Watauga county has the largest proportion of uninsured adults - almost one in three. Marc Holmes from the North Carolina Institute of Medicine says low rates of insurance end up affecting more than just the people who can't afford their care.
"Hospitals in these really low coverage areas now are providing charity care and someone has to pay those nurses and the services that are being provided and they’re spreading less money that they’re getting from the insured over more people, that’s the uninsured."
Holmes says this kind of information is important for local officials so they can plan for their county's needs better. It's the first time the Census has created such detailed data, and made it available on line.
