2023 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium

Health Insurance Coverage

Section 9: Health Insurance Coverage

This section presents statistics on health insurance coverage in the United States, focusing on coverage of people with disabilities. This includes statistics concerning Medicaid and Medicare, the government-run health care programs in the United States. The data address the percentage of people with and without disabilities who have some sort of health insurance coverage as well as the difference in percent health insurance coverage between people with and without disabilities (health insurance coverage gap). The data also present the type of health insurance coverage possessed by people with disabilities (public or private). The principal source of these data is the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Statistics for people with disabilities (disability status) are based on having responded ‘yes’ to a series of questions within the American Community Survey (see the glossary for more details). People receiving disability benefits from Social Security usually automatically qualify for Medicaid and Medicare, although some states have more restrictive eligibility criteria. 

Tables

Table 9.1: In 2021, 89.9 percent of individuals with disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community had health insurance coverage. In contrast, 87.7 percent of individuals without disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community had health insurance coverage—a health insurance coverage gap between those with and without disabilities of 2.2 percentage points. The health insurance gap ranges from 6.8 percentage points in New Mexico to -2.3 percentage points in the District of Columbia.

Table 9.2: In 2021, 48.3 percent of individuals with disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community had private health insurance, 52.3 percent had public health insurance (some had both), while 10.1 percent did not have health insurance. Vermont (1.8 percent) had the smallest percentage of people with disabilities without health insurance coverage. Texas (20.0 percent) had the largest percentage of people with disabilities without health insurance coverage. 

Table 9.1 Health Insurance Coverage — Civilians Ages 18-64 Years Living in the Community for the United States and States, by Disability Status: 2021
State Coverage (%) Gap (% pts) [1]   State Coverage (%) Gap (% pts) [1]
Disability No Disability Disability No Disability
U.S. 89.9 87.7  2.2 MO 84.9 87.1 -2.2
AL 86.3 84.8  1.5 MT 92.0 89.1  2.9
AK 86.5 85.5  1.0 NE 90.5 90.5  0.0
AZ 89.1 85.0  4.1 NV 88.6 84.4  4.2
AR 90.4 86.2  4.2 NH 94.5 93.3  1.2
CA 92.1 90.0  2.1 NJ 92.1 89.7  2.4
CO 92.2 88.9  3.3 NM 91.7 84.9  6.8
CT 94.0 92.5  1.5 NY 94.8 92.5  2.3
DE 93.0 91.5  1.5 NC 87.4 84.8  2.6
DC 93.7 96.0 -2.3 ND 89.0 90.3 -1.3
FL 86.2 81.8  4.4 OH 92.3 91.1  1.2
GA 83.4 81.8  1.6 OK 81.2 79.7  1.5
HI 93.9 94.8 -0.9 OR 91.9 91.2  0.7
ID 90.3 87.9  2.4 PA 94.2 92.5  1.7
IL 92.4 89.7  2.7 RI 95.3 93.8  1.5
IN 91.8 89.8  2.0 SC 86.3 85.1  1.2
IA 93.8 92.9  0.9 SD 86.2 87.5 -1.3
KS 85.1 86.8 -1.7 TN 85.0 85.3 -0.3
KY 94.4 91.8  2.6 TX 80.0 75.3  4.7
LA 92.7 88.4  4.3 UT 90.6 88.4  2.2
ME 92.3 92.0  0.3 VT 98.2 94.6  3.6
MD 94.9 91.5  3.4 VA 92.1 90.6  1.5
MA 96.6 96.6  0.0 WA 92.3 90.6  1.7
MI 94.4 92.5  1.9 WV 93.3 90.3  3.0
MN 94.2 94.2  0.0 WI 95.2 92.5  2.7
MS 85.6 81.8  3.8 WY 83.9 84.4 -0.5

Citation: Paul, S., Rogers, S., Bach, S., & Houtenville, A. (2023). Annual Disability Statistics Compendium: 2023 (Table 9.1). Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire, Institute on Disability. Note: Authors’ calculations using the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, Public Use Microdata Sample, 2021, which is subject to sampling variation.
[1] The difference in percentage points of health insurance coverage between people with disabilities and people with no disabilities.
Table 9.2 Health Insurance Coverage — Civilians with Disabilities Ages 18-64 Years Living in the Community for the United States and States, by Type of Coverage: 2021
State Coverage (%) No Coverage (%) [1]   State Coverage (%) No Coverage (%) [1]
Private Public Private Public
U.S. 48.3 52.3 10.1 MO 48.2 46.8 15.1
AL 47.5 51.5 13.7 MT 46.5 58.0  8.0
AK 46.3 53.4 13.5 NE 58.2 43.7  9.5
AZ 48.7 49.8 10.9 NV 50.1 48.4 11.4
AR 40.5 61.1  9.6 NH 56.2 50.7  5.5
CA 46.2 54.8  7.9 NJ 51.9 50.2  7.9
CO 55.0 49.1  7.8 NM 36.3 65.9  8.3
CT 48.2 55.2  6.0 NY 45.7 60.2  5.2
DE 53.9 54.3  7.0 NC 49.9 50.4 12.6
DC 43.8 56.5  6.3 ND 67.1 34.6 11.0
FL 50.4 46.7 13.8 OH 42.6 58.0  7.7
GA 50.2 45.8 16.6 OK 46.7 43.4 18.8
HI 58.2 51.2  6.1 OR 47.1 54.9  8.1
ID 51.1 52.6  9.7 PA 48.6 58.2  5.8
IL 50.3 51.2  7.6 RI 47.9 56.3  4.7
IN 48.1 54.2  8.2 SC 48.7 50.0 13.7
IA 47.8 56.6  6.2 SD 52.3 43.7 13.8
KS 49.0 46.4 14.9 TN 46.8 50.7 15.0
KY 38.3 66.2  5.6 TX 50.9 39.4 20.0
LA 39.1 64.2  7.3 UT 63.5 37.7  9.4
ME 37.4 64.2  7.7 VT 43.7 67.6  1.8
MD 55.3 53.4  5.1 VA 55.7 49.0  7.9
MA 48.5 59.3  3.4 WA 50.5 52.3  7.7
MI 45.7 60.8  5.6 WV 39.7 65.8  6.7
MN 50.7 52.3  5.8 WI 50.7 56.0  4.8
MS 42.5 53.2 14.4 WY 57.7 41.8 16.1

Citation: Paul, S., Rogers, S., Bach, S., & Houtenville, A. (2023). Annual Disability Statistics Compendium: 2023 (Table 9.2). Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire, Institute on Disability. Note: Authors’ calculations using the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, Public Use Microdata Sample, 2021, which is subject to sampling variation.
[1] The percentage of people with disabilities without health insurance coverage.