Figures released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau show one out of every six people under the age of 65 in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia lacks health care coverage.
The data, co-authored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and reflecting the year 2010, have all 20 counties in the two regions measuring in the thousands of people who do not have health insurance, the highest being Hamblen County, Tenn., with nearly 20 percent of the population not covered.
The majority of those without health care coverage live in or below the poverty line. Texas has the highest uninsured rate of any state with 26.3 percent. Massachusetts has the lowest at 5.2 percent.
Locally, Sullivan County has the second-lowest number of uninsured at 15.3 percent, followed by Washington County at 15 percent.
Here are the rankings for counties in Northeast Tennessee, ranging from highest percentage of uninsured to lowest:
• Hamblen — 19.6
• Cocke — 18
• Carter — 17.8
• Hancock — 17.5
• Greene — 17.4
• Johnson — 17
• Unicoi — 16.2
• Hawkins — 15.4
• Sullivan — 15.3
• Washington — 15
The rankings for Southwest Virginia include eight counties and two cities:
• Russell — 17.3
• Tazewell — 17.1
• Washington — 16.8
• Wise — 16.7
• Smyth — 16.4
• Lee — 16.4
• Bristol — 16.1
• Dickenson — 16
• Scott — 15.8
• Norton — 12.9
In Tennessee, 16.6 percent of people under 65 are without health insurance — an increase of nearly 3 percent from 2010 and 2008.
Friends In Need, a clinic based in Kingsport that provides medical care to those with no health care coverage, sees more than 1,000 patients annually since its opening 17 years ago.
Executive Director Mark Smelser says their service — available to residents of Hawkins, Sullivan and Scott County, Va. — has been a saving grace to those who are in between jobs and have lost their primary health plan.
“Our hope is that they are moving on because of the services we are giving them. We want them to stay active and productive in their community and receive a better job with health insurance,” said Smelser.
Find out more about the clinic’s requirements by visiting www.friendsinneed.org.