CDC: Florida second among states with most uninsured Read more: CDC: Florida second among states with most uninsured - Jacksonville Business Journal

Florida ranked second in the nation for the number of residents lacking health insurance in 2009, according to a survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

The National Health Interview survey found that 19.3 percent of Floridians had no health coverage at the time of the survey, compared to a 15.4 percent national average. Only Texas was higher, at 24.6 percent.

Since most people over the age of 65 years are on Medicare, the number of people in the market for insurance, but lacking it, was actually worse. The CDC reported that 23.2 percent of residents under the age of 65 were uninsured, compared to the 17.5 percent national average. Again, only Texas was worse.

Florida’s rate of uninsured kids wasn’t as bad, at 13.1 percent, but it was still far below the national average of 8.2 percent and the third-worst in the nation. With so many children covered by public programs, less than half of Florida’s children had private health insurance.

While the CDC survey did not break down the demographics by state, it gave a glimpse at the type of people who would be pressed into buying coverage. More than half of unemployed people lacked health coverage, compared with 18 percent of those employed.

Married people were much less likely to be uninsured (12.6 percent) than those who were divorced (21.1 percent), never married (28 percent) or living with a partner (32.4 percent).

Nearly one-third of people who did not finish high school (32.9 percent) were uninsured.

Hispanic/Latino residents had the most need for health coverage, with 31.2 percent lacking insurance, followed by 17.3 percent of blacks, 14.3 percent of Asians and 11.1 percent of whites.