Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
This gives a whole new meaning to the "red states" map. Sarah Kliff writes at Ezra Klein's Wonkblog, These two maps are incredibly important to Obamacare:
If you want to understand where Obamacare stands to have the most significant impact, check out these new maps from the Census. They show uninsured levels for every county in the United States, broken down by income level:
The top map shows the population that is likely to qualify for Medicaid coverage, if they live in a state that is expanding that program. The bottom map captures the Medicaid-eligible population and those who may qualify for subsidies to purchase health insurance in the new marketplaces.
There are two things that these maps tell me. First, they underscore
the significant impact that state policy will have on the Affordable
Care Act. Texas and Florida have both decided not to participate in the
Medicaid expansion, concerned about the financial implications of
expanding an entitlement program. Those are states that tend to have a
higher uninsured rate that will see them dip less than was initially
expected under the health law.
Second, these maps explain why you see a group like Enroll America
focusing its work on 10 states, rather than sweeping out across the
country. There are some areas of the United States, like the upper
Midwest and the Northeast, that already have a relatively low uninsured
rate. That likely explains why you see national groups focusing on a
smaller area where they can likely have a larger impact, the places
where uninsured rates for the poor hover as high as 40 percent.
Affordable health care may begin to ameliorate the consequences of poverty in Western states (excluding Texas).
