Many Columbia County residents are anxious about health care costs. As noted, making health care more affordable is now the number one priority for residents of the county, and making health insurance easier to get is also a pressing concern.
For many residents, this issue hits close to home. Nearly one-third of all Columbia County households have a member who has not had continuous health insurance coverage and, therefore, has experienced a gap in that coverage at some point in the past year. 16% of all households have at least one member who is currently uninsured.
Many children in Columbia County lack health care coverage. 17% of households have at least one child who has experienced a gap in coverage over the past year, and 8% of households include a child who is not currently insured.
Columbia County is one of the two Mid-Hudson Valley counties with the greatest proportion of households which face gaps in their health insurance coverage. The other county is Ulster, where, like Columbia County, 31% of households have not had continuous coverage over the past year.