Report: N.C. sees fastest growth in uninsured

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 1, 2009

MORRISVILLE (AP) ó A state health research agency says North Carolina has the country’s highest growth rate of people going without health insurance.
Researchers at the North Carolina Institute of Medicine said Wednesday the state’s uninsured has risen by 22.5 percent since the recession began in 2007. North Carolina’s rate was followed by two other states that also have lost thousands of manufacturing jobs, Rhode Island and Indiana.
The report estimates that about 1.75 million North Carolina residents are without health insurance, an increase of 322,000 as a result of layoffs since 2007.
A national study released Tuesday said North Carolina is among 14 states with a fifth or more of the working age population uninsured.
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On the Net:
North Carolina Institute of Medicine: http://www.nciom.org/