A total of about 3.8 million Floridians or 25 percent of the state’s population under 65 years are uninsured, the nation’s second-highest rate, according to U.S. Census data released late last week.
Out of 67 counties in Florida, Miami-Dade has the second-highest rate of uninsured for the same age group at 34.4 percent, trailing only Hendry County, with an uninsured rate of 35 percent or about 11,500 residents. Miami-Dade also is home to the largest number of residents without health insurance in the state younger than 65 — an estimated 744,000 people.
Despite the staggering number of uninsured, Florida’s Legislature was unable to strike a deal for expanding Medicaid, a joint state and federal health insurance program, that would have insured over 1.2 million, with an estimated $50 billion in federal grant funds coming to the state over the next 10 years.
In response to the shocking census data on Florida’s uninsured population, House Democratic Leader Perry Thurston (D-Fort Lauderdale), called the Republican legislative leaders’ refusal to accept the federal aid to expand Medicaid, “inexcusable and shameful.”
Read more on Florida’s legislative leaders’ shame HERE.
