Madison Ranks No. 1 in Insurance for Kids

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More than four-fifths of the children in Wisconsin's state capital are covered by private health insurance, the best percentage among the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas.

Just 17.9 percent of the children in Madison are not covered by private health policies, according to a Business First of Buffalo analysis of new U.S. Census Bureau data.

The bureau estimates that the Madison area has 123,700 persons under the age of 18. Private insurers cover 101,600, leaving 22,100 either under a government insurance program or without health coverage of any kind.

Right behind Madison are Honolulu, where only 18.4 percent of children are not under the umbrella of private health insurance, Ogden, Utah, at 19.4 percent, and Minneapolis-St. Paul at 19.9 percent uncovered. Milwaukee was 38th among the largest metros with 29.4 percent of children not covered by private insurance.

Two Texas metros on the Mexican border have the worst rates in the country. More than three-quarters of the children in McAllen-Edinburg -- 77.0 percent -- are not covered by private health insurance. The corresponding figure in the El Paso area is 63.5 percent.

Buffalo ranks 39th among the top 100 markets, with 29.7 percent of its children not covered by private insurers. (The Buffalo area consists of Erie and Niagara counties.) The median for the entire study group is 31.3 percent uncovered.

Business First analyzed recently released data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, which generates statistics during the years between the bureau's decennial head counts.

The following are the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas, listed according to the percentage of children who are not covered by private health insurance. Metros are listed from the lowest to the highest percentage of uncovered persons under the age of 18:

* Madison, Wis., 17.9%
* Honolulu, 18.4%
* Ogden, Utah, 19.4%
* Minneapolis-St. Paul, 19.9%
* Worcester, Mass., 20.4%
* Albany, N.Y., 20.9%
* Boston, 20.9%
* Bridgeport-Stamford, Conn., 21.5%
* Washington, 21.9%
* Poughkeepsie, N.Y., 22.3%
* San Jose, 22.9%
* Des Moines, Iowa, 24.1%
* Omaha, 24.1%
* Hartford, 24.8%
* Salt Lake City, 24.8%
* Virginia Beach-Norfolk, 25.0%
* Colorado Springs, 25.1%
* San Francisco-Oakland, 25.1%
* Cincinnati, 25.2%
* Harrisburg, Pa., 25.5%
* Allentown-Bethlehem, Pa., 25.6%
* Provo, Utah, 26.1%
* Seattle, 26.2%
* Portland, Maine, 26.3%
* Richmond, 26.5%
* Philadelphia, 26.7%
* Baltimore, 26.9%
* Akron, Ohio, 27.0%
* Portland, Ore., 27.0%
* Kansas City, 27.4%
* St. Louis, 27.4%
* Providence, 27.7%
* Rochester, N.Y., 27.8%
* Pittsburgh, 27.9%
* Syracuse, N.Y., 28.0%
* Louisville, 28.1%
* Columbus, 28.3%
* Milwaukee, 29.4%
* Buffalo, 29.7%
* New Haven, Conn., 29.7%
* Knoxville, Tenn., 29.8%
* Grand Rapids, 29.9%
* Raleigh, 29.9%
* Nashville, 30.0%
* Indianapolis, 30.4%
* Dayton, 30.5%
* Cleveland, 30.6%
* Wichita, Kans., 30.7%
* Denver, 31.0%
* Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 31.1%
* Springfield, Mass., 31.4%
* Columbia, S.C., 31.9%
* Las Vegas, 32.1%
* Oxnard-Thousand Oaks, Calif., 32.1%
* Toledo, Ohio, 32.2%
* Sacramento, 32.5%
* New York City, 32.6%
* Birmingham, 32.7%
* Detroit, 32.8%
* Charlotte, 33.3%
* Boise, Idaho, 33.4%
* Jacksonville, 33.5%
* Chicago, 33.7%
* San Diego, 35.0%
* Charleston, S.C., 35.3%
* Austin, 35.7%
* Chattanooga, Tenn., 35.9%
* Orlando, 36.6%
* Atlanta, 37.0%
* Youngstown, Ohio, 37.2%
* Greenville, S.C., 37.8%
* Palm Bay-Melbourne, Fla., 38.2%
* Tampa-St. Petersburg, 39.3%
* Tulsa, 39.5%
* Phoenix, 40.3%
* Greensboro, 40.8%
* Stockton, Calif., 40.9%
* Memphis, 41.1%
* Bradenton-Sarasota, Fla., 42.3%
* Dallas-Fort Worth, 42.3%
* Oklahoma City, 42.4%
* Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., 42.9%
* Albuquerque, 43.0%
* Miami-Fort Lauderdale, 43.6%
* San Antonio, 43.7%
* Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., 44.3%
* Jackson, Miss., 44.5%
* Los Angeles, 44.5%
* New Orleans, 44.8%
* Houston, 45.0%
* Tucson, 45.3%
* Augusta, Ga., 46.0%
* Little Rock, Ark., 46.0%
* Baton Rouge, La., 46.7%
* Bakersfield, Calif., 49.8%
* Lakeland, Fla., 50.7%
* San Juan, P.R., 51.9%
* Fresno, Calif., 56.4%
* El Paso, Texas, 63.5%
* McAllen-Edinburg, Texas, 77.0%

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