Audio By Carbonatix
A significant chunk of America’s uninsured population lives in Texas, and a lot of those people live in the Dallas area. That’s partly because Texas refused to expand Medicaid, which has left a million-plus people too rich to qualify for government insurance but too poor to get subsidies to buy private plans. Other factors adding to the problem are illegal immigration and a complex stew of demographics, economics and politics that mean the state will continue to have a large number of uninsured even after the Affordable Care Act’s March 31 deadline for buying insurance.
So get used to the map above, which was compiled by a Georgia Tech health systems grad student named Kevin Johnson. Johnson took data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2012 American Community Survey and turned them into heat maps showing the distribution of the uninsured population in each of the 15 largest U.S. cities.
See also: Dallas Named One of America’s Worst Counties for Health Coverage
The Dallas map generally confirms what one would imagine: the Park Cities and prosperous North Dallas form a pool of deep blue, much of southern Dallas, the Bachman Lake area, the sea of apartments on the far side of Lake Highlands all trending yellow. The only potential area of surprise is the big yellow splotch that’s eaten east Plano.
Will you step up to support Dallas Observer this year?
We’re aiming to raise $30,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to you. If the Dallas Observer matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
Send your story tips to the author, Eric Nicholson.
