Gallup conducted polling to find out about the uninsured in America. Here's a snapshot of their findings:
Compare and contrast that map with this one, those states
participating in suits against the Affordable Care Act.
Of the 17 states with the highest populations of uninsured, 11 are suing the federal government to block implementation of the Affordable Care Act, which would of course reduce the number of uninsured people in their states.
The Atlantic's Richard Florida finds
some other things these states have in common.
Uninsured states are significantly more religious, based on the percentage of state residents who say that religion plays an important role in their everyday life. The correlation between the two is .51.
Politics and ideology factor in as well. Conservative states (based both on the percentage of state residents who identify as conservatives (.58) and the percentage of who voted for McCain in 2008 (.60) have a higher percentage of uninsured citizens. Economics also comes into play. There is a positive correlation between the percent of a population that is uninsured and the poverty rate (.58). Blue-collar and working class states also boast a higher level of uninsured (.40). [...]
Also not surprisingly, lack of health insurance is associated both with lower levels of well-being and shorter overall life expectancy. The correlation between the share of the uninsured and well-being is negative and significant (-.33). The share of uninsured has an even bigger impact on life expectancy (where correlation is -.59). That should be reason enough to get more Americans covered by health insurance.
None of this is news. Researchers and policymakers have known for decades that health insurance and access to affordable care makes people healthier. It makes them more productive. It helps boost the economy. A healthy population helps keep the cost of health care lower, with preventive care helping to keep the some of the really expensive chronic and acute care in check. None of this is seriously disputed.
And yet, Republican attorneys general in half of the states are trying to prevent the implementation of a law that would make insurance just a little be easier to obtain. They need to answer to the citizens they represent.