Survey Shows Uninsured Rates in East Texas
Posted/updated on: September 1, 2013 at 7:59 am
LONGVIEW — The biggest percentage change of residents without health insurance in East Texas is in Smith County, where 27.2 percent of residents were without insurance in 2010. KETK and the Longview News-Journal report that number fell to 24.8 percent in 2011. The new numbers come from U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday based on 2011 figures. Data also show the percentage of uninsured people in Gregg County decreased from 25.7 percent in 2010 to 24.1 percent in 2011.
One Northeast Texas county continues to have one of the highest rates of uninsured residents in the state. Almost 31 percent of Titus County residents are without health insurance. Despite the high percentage in comparison to the rest of the region, Titus County’s percentage of uninsured residents dropped from 31.9 percent in 2010. Titus County has had a higher than 30 percent rate of uninsured residents since 2008. Titus is still well below the Texas county with the highest percentage of uninsured residents: Hidalgo County in South Texas is at 38.9 percent.
