1 Million Uninsured

A new report on poverty reveals that 1,052,611 residents of Long Island under 65 have no health insurance. Yup! That's 43% of the state's 2,471,152 uninsureds. And 1 in 6 islander under 65 lacks coverage.

Here are the numbers and percentages of the uninsured by county:

• Kings County: 335,289 - 15.9%
• Nassau County: 173,349 - 15.1%
• Queens County: 345,196 - 17.6
• Suffolk County: 198,777 - 15.2%

A few questions:

• How is it that the economically challenged Western NY counties of Erie, Monroe and Niagara have lower rates of uninsureds (11.3% - 11.9%) than wealthy LI?
• How is it that Bronx County manages an uninsured rate of 11.1%?
• How is it that 68% of the largely rural Upstate counties (27 of 40) have uninsured rates greater than 15% and as high as thirty per cent in state as rich as NY?
• Furthermore, how is it that NY spends so much while managing to leave millions uninsured?

Link: 2009 New York State Poverty Report