Health insurance by the numbers in Monroe County

Jan. 09--In recent years, the Keys have had a higher number of uninsured residents than other counties in the state, according to numbers in the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey.

Most recent statistics show 13.3 percent of residents had no health insurance in Florida in 2015. The majority of them were between the ages of 25 and 34 and male.

Those without health insurance accounted for 18.7 percent of the population in Monroe County the same year, up from 16.9 percent in 2014. Both numbers are better than the 2013 statistics, when 22 percent of the county's residents were uninsured, according to the survey.

In the Keys, the majority of uninsured people fall between the ages of 35 and 44. More males are uninsured than females, and service industry employees are the most likely workers to go without health insurance.

Survey numbers show 81.3 percent of Monroe County residents, or 61,919 out of 76,192 residents, had some form of health insurance in 2015.

Of the 48,209 privately ensured, 22,722 got it through an employer. The rest had military benefits or directly purchased it through an insurance agent.

Residents insured through the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid or the Veterans Health Administration accounted for 33.1 percent of those with insurance, 25,189 residents.

Under the Affordable Care Act, 11,336 residents chose insurance through one of the federal marketplace plans, while 4,944 people were covered by Medicare. Eight percent had Medicaid, or 6,111 residents, and less than 1 percent of residents were covered by VA health insurance alone.

Numbers for 2016 won't be available until December.

Katie Atkins: 305-440-3219

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