Staff Report
Published Sept. 22, 2009

As of last year 17.4% of South Carolina residents lacked health insurance, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau.

That was above the national rate of 15.1%, based on data from the 2008 American Community Survey.

Last year’s survey was the first time that questions about health insurance were included in the survey of about 3 million people.

The state with the lowest percent of uninsured residents was Massachusetts, at 4.1%. The state with the highest rate of uninsured was Texas, where 24.1% of residents lacked coverage.

Nationally, about 70% of the insured had private coverage, while 25.5% had government coverage, including Medicare, Medicaid and Veterans Affairs coverage.

See a map how states compare to the national average of uninsured here. For more data, visit the census site.

Read the Sept. 28 issue of the Charleston Regional Business Journal for more on health insurance and the debate over reform.