Percentage of residents younger than 65 with no health insurance coverage

Status

In 2021, 19.9% of Travis County residents ages 18-64 did not have health insurance coverage.  Travis County has a lower estimated prevalence of uninsured residents compared to the state of Texas overall at 28.4% for the same year.
In 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported an estimated 13.4% of people ages 18-64 were uninsured.  
Healthy People 2020 established the objective of reducing the number of uninsured citizens to zero by achieving 10% decreases in the percentage of uninsured people over time.  A prevalence of 20.4% uninsured residents in 2023 would keep Travis County on track to eventually achieving the goal of zero uninsured residents.
Healthy People 2020 is a set of goals and objectives aimed to improve health promotion and disease prevention.  For more information on Healthy People 2020, visit https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020
Please Note*: The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) collects data from non-institutionalized U.S. adult residents regarding their health-related risk behaviors, chronic health conditions, and use of preventive services.  The primary purpose of the survey is to provide population-based estimates for chronic disease and the associated risk factors for Travis County residents. As a result, data from BRFSS are estimates of the prevalence of any specified condition.

Trending

The percentage of residents without health insurance has fluctuated only slightly over time from 2011-2021, ranging from a high of 31.5% in 2012, to a low of 20% in 2020 & 2021.
Austin Public Health (APH) serves the uninsured community by making regular referrals to the Medical Access Program (MAP).  In addition, APH collaborates with the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) to increase enrollment in healthcare coverage for Travis County residents with household incomes at or below the Federal Poverty Level for ages 18-64. Current CHIP Objectives include:
  • Utilizing and enhancing existing education and communication campaigns to inform Travis County Residents in key communities of what healthcare coverage is available
  • Expanding training for Community Based Organizations (CBOs) to educate clients and community residents about all healthcare coverage options for which they are eligible and how to enroll in them
  • Provide agencies high level healthcare options training and referrals to organizations enrolling in coverage
  • Provide information and data to advocacy groups to support work regarding the impact of federal and state funding cuts to healthcare and outreach.
Note: To see the underlying data for the chart above, please select the "View Source Data" link.

Additional Measure Insights

To allow for more extensive data analysis, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) years 2017-2021 were combined to produce the data in the chart below titled "Prevalence of Uninsured Residents (ages 18-64) by Race/Ethnicity, Travis County, 2017-2021."   When examining health insurance status by racial category, Hispanics have a higher prevalence of uninsured status than non-Hispanic Blacks or Whites in Travis County.  While the percentage of uninsured status is lower for Blacks than for Hispanics, the prevalence for both racial groups is higher than the value for Whites potentially highlighting disparities between the racial groups locally.  When comparing the prevalence for Travis County to the state of Texas over time, Travis County has a slightly lower prevalence of uninsured residents.

Measure Details and Definition

1) Definition: This is a measure how many Travis County residents have health insurance.  The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is a telephone survey conducted annually by Texas Department of State Health Services to assess a variety of health measures within the state.  The survey data assesses whether participants have health insurance coverage and uses that data to provide an estimate of insurance coverage across Travis County residents.  The measure used refers to residents who are between 18-64 years of age.
2) Calculation method: The measure is calculated by dividing the number of residents who reported having health insurance by the total number of residents surveyed.  The data collected from the survey is weighted so that the survey data can be estimated for the population as a whole.
3) Data Collection Process: The data is collected via telephone survey administered by Texas Department of State Health Services on behalf of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
4) Measure Target Calculation: Reduce the number of uninsured citizens to zero by achieving 10% decreases in the percentage of uninsured people over time.  A prevalence of no more than 20.4% uninsured residents in 2023 would keep Travis County on track to eventually achieving the goal of zero uninsured residents.
5) Frequency Measure is Reported: Data is reported every year, with a two year lag. 
Date page was last updated: December 2022