Over 9 million veterans receive healthcare through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), but as many as 1.5 million remain uninsured — amounting to about 6% of veterans nationwide (or one out of every 15 veterans), data shows. These insurance gaps mean that many who served our country go without necessary healthcare each year.
In 2019, a team of researchers analyzed veteran-related data from that year's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), the nation's largest public health survey conducted annually by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Their research, drawing from the 53,000 veterans surveyed by the CDC (representative of the nationwide veteran population), revealed that lack of medical coverage compromises both care and access for veterans.
Charlie Health dug into the BRFSS research analysis, sorting all 50 states in ascending order by veteran uninsurance rates, and also pulled data on the approximate number of uninsured veterans in each state and compared the state's uninsurance rate to the national average.
Specifically, the BRFSS researchers found that less than half of uninsured veterans had a personal doctor, only about one-third (29%) had received a flu vaccine in the previous year, and roughly one in five (17.3%) hadn't been to an annual physical in the previous 5 years.
While veterans across the country struggle with accessing medical care, rates of uninsurance differ between states. Four of the five states with the largest percentage of uninsured veterans, for instance, are states that did not adopt Medicaid expansions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — conforming to 2021 research findings that slightly more than half of uninsured veterans lived in non-expansion states. Factors like urbanization have also been shown to affect uninsurance rates.
#10. Wyoming
#9. Georgia
#8. Tennessee
#7. Idaho
#6. Delaware
#5. Alabama
#4. Wisconsin
#3. Arkansas
#2. Texas
#1. Mississippi
Keep reading to see how the remaining 40 states rank according to the highest rates of uninsured veterans. Where states are tied for the percentage of uninsured veterans, they are sorted in ascending order by the approximate number of overall uninsured veterans.
#50. Maryland
#49. Oregon
#48. Massachusetts
#47. North Dakota
#46. Alaska
#45. New Hampshire
#44. Hawaii
#43. Missouri
#42. Kentucky
#41. Washington
#40. Colorado
#39. Iowa
#38. Virginia
#37. Pennsylvania
#36. Utah
#35. Indiana
#34. Arizona
#33. California
#32. Vermont
#31. Oklahoma
#30. New York
#29. Ohio
#28. Connecticut
#27. Minnesota
#26. Florida
#25. South Dakota
#24. Maine
#23. West Virginia
#22. New Mexico
#21. Montana
#20. Nevada
#19. Louisiana
#18. District of Columbia
#17. North Carolina
#16. Kansas
#15. Nebraska
#14. South Carolina
#13. Rhode Island
#12. Michigan
#11. Illinois
Mental health is health, and many veterans who struggle to access healthcare also struggle to access mental healthcare. If you or a person in your life is a veteran in need of mental healthcare, consider seeking support from a licensed mental health professional. You can search for providers in your area online or get a referral from a primary care physician or Veterans Affairs clinic—just remember to ask if a person has experience treating veterans or veteran-specific mental health issues (like post-traumatic stress disorder).
This story was produced by Charlie Health and reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media.