PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island has one of the lowest rates of uninsured residents in the country, according to the latest study by WalletHub .
Rhode Island, with a 7.42 percent uninsured rate, was ninth on the list.
Massachusetts had the lowest rate at 3.28 percent, followed by Vermont, 4.95 percent; Hawaii, 5.27 percent; District of Columbia, 5.28 percent; Minnesota, 5.88 percent; Iowa, 6.17 percent; Connecticut, 6.93 percent; and Wisconsin, 7.35 percent. Delaware was 10th with a 7.77 percent rate. In comparison, Texas had the highest number of uninsured at 19 percent, WalletHub said.
Rhode Island’s uninsured rate has dropped nearly 40 percent since 2010, when its rate of uninsured was 12.17 percent, WalletHub said. Since 2010, 49,065 people have gained health coverage, it said.
WalletHub, a personal finance website, said it conducted the study to estimate rates of the uninsured before and after the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, now that the third open enrollment period for health insurance is under way. It noted that nearly 12 percent of the nation still lacks health insurance coverage.
In Rhode Island, WalletHub said Obamacare reduced the children’s uninsured rate by nearly 40 percent between 2010 and 2014.
WalletHub also discovered that in the Ocean State, the uninsured rate for whites is nearly 59 percent lower than that for blacks, and almost 71 percent lower than that for Hispanics. It also found that the uninsured rate for higher-income households is 58.8 percent lower than that for lower-income households. In addition, it said the rate of employer-based health insurance coverage decreased by nearly 2 percent between 2010 and 2014.
WalletHub said that it analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data to come up with its findings.
