The number of Georgians without health insurance increased by 40,000 to 1.67 million from 2007 to 2008, and the state slipped to 5th in the nation for its number of uninsured, according to a report released Wednesday by Georgia State University.
Only California, Texas, Florida, and New York have more uninsured individuals than Georgia.
As more people lost jobs in the recession, a greater number of Georgians lack any source of coverage at all, said Bill Custer, director of the Center for Health Services Research in the J. Mack Robinson College of Business, which put out the study.
The study is based on 2008 data in the U.S. Census, the most recent figures available. Georgia had been rated sixth in 2007.
“The information from this survey does not reflect the height of the recession,” Custer said. “The number of Georgians without health insurance is likely to increase substantially when the census reports its 2009 figures.”
The study also found a continued erosion of employer-sponsored coverage in the state at the same time as health care costs have continued to grow.
