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The ABC Data Exchange

Healthcare
and Wellness

The uninsured are often one serious illness or accident away from financial crisis.

Health insurance acts as a protective factor against unexpected healthcare costs that can damage an individual’s or a family’s ability to maintain assets.

Health insurance is provided in two major forms, employer-based health insurance, predominant for adults, and Medicaid and Medicare for those age 65 and over.

The measures on this page highlight levels of employer-provided health insurance and uninsurance rates among residents in Forsyth County.

Literature Review Highlights

 

Even when controlling for income and education, wealth is associated with better self-rated health. [1]

Assets are associated with a reduction in family stress generally. [2]

High debt is associated with mental disorders, and the relationship between debt and mental disorder is much stronger than the relationship between income and mental disorder.  However, the study does not attempt to disentangle which way causation runs: does debt cause mental disorder, do those with mental disorders rack up more debt, or is it a little of both? [3]

Literature Review References

[1] Pollack, C. E., Cubbin, C., Sania, A., Hayward, M., Vallone, D., Flaherty, B., & Braveman, P. A. (2013). Do wealth disparities contribute to health disparities within racial/ethnic groups?. J Epidemiol Community Health, 67(5), 439-445.

[2] Rothwell, D. W., & Han, C. K. (2010). Exploring the relationship between assets and family stress among low‐income families. Family Relations, 59(4), 396-407.

[3] Jenkins, R., Bhugra, D., Bebbington, P., Brugha, T., Farrell, M., Coid, J., … & Meltzer, H. (2008). Debt, income and mental disorder in the general population. Psychological medicine, 38(10), 1485-1493.

Major Findings

Employer-based health insurance was lower and uninsurance rates were higher for Black and Hispanic/Latino residents and residents with lower levels of educational attainment.
Uninsurance rates have decreased since 2011.
The state of North Carolina and Durham and Forsyth Counties had higher uninsurance rates than the United States in 2021.

Employer-Provided Health Insurance

Although the Affordable Care Act expanded access to health insurance to individuals without employer-provided insurance, the majority of Americans still receive health care coverage through their employers. Employment-provided health insurance is typically less expensive and provides more comprehensive coverage than plans purchased individually on the private market [1]. View data notes for this measure.

Data Visualization

Employer-Provided Health Insurance (Forsyth County, 2021)

Use the dropdown menu below to view data on different groups.

Key Takeaways

Overall, the rate of employer-provided health insurance remained about the same from 2009-2021.
Major disparities were present by race/ethnicity.

About 69% of White adults had employer-provided health insurance compared to 56% of Black adults and 35% of Hispanic/Latino adults in 2021.

Adults with higher educational attainment were more likely to have employer-provided health insurance.

Adults with a Bachelor’s Degree or higher had employer-provider health insurance rates of 77%-89% compared to 39% for adults with a high school diploma or less in 2021.

Uninsured Individuals

Health insurance provides important protection for a household’s assets by reducing expenses incurred from a medical emergency or the treatment of a chronic illness that might otherwise require a family to spend down long-term savings, sell off assets, or go into debt. In addition, because health insurance coverage encourages people to seek preventive care and treatment for injuries and illnesses, it minimizes the impact a major injury or illness would otherwise have on an individual’s ability to earn income. The uninsured are often one serious illness or accident away from financial crisis.

While the Affordable Care Act (ACA) significantly reduced the uninsured rate, millions of Americans still lack coverage, including the low-income individuals who fall into the coverage gap as a result of some states’ decisions not to expand Medicaid under ACA. Further, the repeal of the ACA’s individual mandate — and Congress’ attempts to repeal the ACA outright — have sown the seeds of a rise in uninsured rates in every state [1]. View data notes for this measure.

Data Visualization

Uninsured Individuals (Forsyth County, 2021)

Use the dropdown menu below to view data on different groups.

Key Takeaways

Overall, uninsured rates decreased significantly since 2011.

The uninsurance rate peaked in 2011 at 18% compared to 11% in 2021.

All comparison communities but Guilford County had higher uninsurance rates than the United States in 2021.
Working-aged residents had the highest uninsurance rate.

Adults 18-34 and 35-64 have an uninsurance rate of 14% and 17%, respectively, compared to 4% and 1% for residents 18 and under and residents 65 and over, respectively, in 2021.

Major disparities were present by race/ethnicity.

White residents have the lowest uninsurance rate at 7%, followed by Black residents at 10%, and Hispanic/Latino residents at 28% in 2021.

Residents with low educational attainment have the highest uninsurance rates.

In 2021, about 20% of residents with a high school diploma or less were uninsured.