Indicator: 58 - Health Care Coverage

 

Why This Is Important

People with inadequate or no health insurance often forego routine preventive care.
Some health problems may not be treated until they become more serious. This adds
tremendous cost to an already costly health care system, and can add stress to families’
lives. Parents who are physically ill or suffer from an untreated mental illness do not function
well as parents to their children.

 

 

Where We Stand

For 2002, an estimated 85.9% of Maine citizens 18 years old and older had health care
insurance, the same percentage as for the entire nation. This was a slight decline from one
year earlier for both the state and the U.S.

 

Data Sources and Context

The data source for this indicator is the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System,
which is administered and supported by the Division of Adult and Community Health,
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Prevalence and trend data is available on-line at http://www.cdc.gov/brfss. Surveillance data comes from a series of monthly telephone
interviews with a sample of adults in each state. The U.S. data in the chart are the median
value of the 50 state results in each year.