Number of Uninsured Californians Increases

03/16/2010

High unemployment rates have led to a spike in the number of Californians without health insurance, according to a recent study by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

The research was based on 2009 enrollee data and showed that almost a quarter of the state's residents lack health insurance. This brings the total number of uninsured to 8 million, 25 percent higher than the 6.4 million Californians without health insurance in 2007. All age groups were affected by this increase, according to the report.

The California Wellness Foundation and the California Endowment funded the study, which also showed growing unemployment rates contributed to the higher number of uninsured adults.

"The number of Californians who lost their insurance simply because they lost their job is the clearest indicator yet that our current system of health insurance is broken and that urgent change is needed," Robert K. Ross, president and CEO of the California Endowment, said.

Less than 50 percent of non-elderly Californians had access to job-based coverage, according to the report. A recent rate increase at one of the state's major health insurance companies has made it more difficult for some individuals to afford coverage.

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