Lack of Health Insurance measures the percentage of the population not covered by private or public health insurance. Ranks are based on data from the preceding two years from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (http://www.census.gov/cps/). 

Individuals without health insurance have more difficulty accessing the health care system, are often unable to participate in preventive care programs, and have more unmet health needs[1]. These unmet health needs in addition to decreasing quality of life can place a substantial burden on the health care system. Unmet health needs can overtime develop into more serious conditions which require more costly treatments. A lack of health insurance often leads to more emergency department visits due to a lack of access elsewhere and treatment in the emergency department can cost up to ten times more than treatment in a clinic[2]. For these reasons and many more, uninsured individuals have consistently been found to have worse health outcomes[3]. Among the uninsured, preventative health care services are less utilized and cancer mortality rates are higher[4]. Overall, the unmet health needs of the uninsured translate into a 25% greater risk of mortality compared to those with insurance, accounting for an estimated 18,000 excess deaths annually[5].