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By Brad Kellar, The Herald Banner, Greenville, Texas |
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McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Aug. 31--GREENVILLE -- About one out of every four Hunt County residents is not covered by health insurance, according to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau.
This week, the agency released 2010 estimates of health insurance coverage for each of the nation's roughly 3,140 counties, through the Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) report.
SAHIE is partially funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and others in the health care field, according to the announcement from the Census Bureau, indicating the CDC uses the statistics in support of its National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, providing free cancer screenings to low-income, uninsured women.
"We use SAHIE data to more effectively gauge the level of need for breast and cervical cancer screening in various geographic jurisdictions across the country," said Marcus Plescia, director of the CDC's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control in Atlanta. "The information provided by SAHIE data is important to us in program planning and management, targeting and resource allocation decisions and evaluation."
According to the report 18,701, or 25.8 percent, of Hunt County's 72,254 residents did not have health insurance. As of 2010 53,853 county residents, or 74.2 percent, were insured. The report had a margin of error of 1.6 percent, or 1,194 people.
The estimates are based on statistical models combining data from a variety of sources, including the American Community Survey (ACS), Census Bureau population estimates, administrative records (such as aggregated federal tax returns and Medicaid participation records) and 2000 Census statistics.
The percentage of uninsured residents varied greatly among nearby counties, according to the report. In Collin County, 16.7 percent of the residents did not have health insurance during 2010; while 30.7 percent of Hopkins County residents were uninsured two years ago.
The complete report is available online at www.census.gov/did/www/sahie/data/interactive.
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