Dutchess County Households with Gaps in Health Insurance Coverage
A considerable proportion of Dutchess County households have trouble maintaining continuous health insurance coverage throughout the year. Over a fifth of all households in the county have at least one member who has not had uninterrupted health insurance and, therefore, has confronted a gap in coverage during the past year.
This includes both adults and children who do not have current health insurance and households that while currently insured, have had at least one member without insurance at some point in the last year. Using the U.S. Census, this translates into approximately 22,515 of the estimated 102,337 households in the county facing the challenge of maintaining continuous health insurance plans for all household members. In 2002, 24% of Dutchess County households were either without health insurance or had a gap in their coverage.
This predicament is especially common among young people and for low income households. About three in ten Dutchess County adults under age forty-five live in a household where a member has confronted a gap in health care insurance in the last year. 43% of households with an annual income of less than $30,000 have gone without uninterrupted insurance, as well.
Securing employment does not insure a household’s chance of maintaining coverage. 24% of residents in Dutchess County who are employed come from a household that experienced a gap in insurance this year.
Children are also at risk. 15% of households with children in Dutchess County include at least one child who has not had the benefit of uninterrupted coverage. There has been no improvement in this proportion since 2002 when the rate was 13%.
