Health insurance coverage

Health insurance helps people get care without going broke. This measure shows the share of the civilian noninstitutionalized population (all ages) who have any kind of health coverage, whether through a job, a plan they bought, Medicaid, or Medicare.

People with coverage are more likely to see a doctor, fill prescriptions, and catch problems early, when they are cheaper and easier to treat. People without it often skip care, carry medical debt, or end up in the emergency room for issues that could have been prevented.

Coverage is not spread evenly: cost is the biggest barrier, and residents with lower incomes and some communities of color are more likely to be uninsured. Tracking coverage helps a community see who is being left out.

A major recent shift shapes how to read this map. North Carolina expanded Medicaid on December 1, 2023, making roughly 600,000 adults newly eligible, with hundreds of thousands enrolling in the first year. The three South Carolina counties in this region (Chester, Lancaster, and York) are not covered, because South Carolina has not expanded Medicaid. Comparing coverage on either side of the state line is a contrast this two-state tool is uniquely able to show.