September 20, 2001

Proportion of North Dakotans With Health Insurance Dropped in 1990s

In North Dakota, approximately 88 percent of the population was covered by some type of health insurance in 1999. According to the latest Economic Brief from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University, this proportion was down from 91.4 percent in 1989.

Nationwide, a smaller proportion of persons was covered; 84.5 percent in 1999, down from 86.4 percent in 1989. "We are fortunate in North Dakota to have the vast majority of youth covered by health insurance. However, our coverage has been declining over the past 10 years, a trend we need to reverse. We can ill afford to have our youth in a situation where a major health event might result in their family’s economic collapse," said Richard Rathge, director of the State Data Center.

The majority of children under 18 years old in North Dakota were also covered by health insurance, but the proportions are declining. In 1989 7.2 percent of children under 18 were not covered by health insurance. This proportion rose to10.4 percent in 1999. A steep rise in 1997 is due in part to a definition change which classifies Native Americans with access only to Indian Health Services as uninsured. Nationally, the proportion of children without health insurance rose from 13.3 percent in 1989 to 13.9 percent in 1999.

The information contained in this brief was obtained from the March Current Population Survey, a joint project between the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of the Census ( http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/hlthins.html .)

###

Source: Richard Rathge, (701) 231-8621, richard_rathge@ndsu.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu

Click here for a GIF version of this graphic. (38KB b&w text, map and graph)

Click here for a GIF version of this graphic. (61KB b&w text, map and graph)

Click here for a pdf version of both pages of this graphic. 
(3,129KB b&w text, map and table)