News release: “A new fact sheet from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, California’s Uninsured by County, provides detailed county-by-county estimates of the number of California residents who have lost health insurance during the economic downturn. Following on a statewide estimate published earlier this year, the new analysis finds that the number of Californians without health insurance grew in all counties and that 37 counties — from Imperial to Kern to Shasta — had uninsured rates above the statewide average of 24.3%. Rates increased on average by 5 percentage points from 2007 data. (2007 county level data can be found in the Center’s omnibus report on health insurance: “The State of Health Insurance in California” – page 34, exhibit 17). Loss of health insurance was concentrated in counties in Southern California (Imperial, Riverside and San Bernardino), the San Joaquin Valley (all counties) and the Northern/Sierra areas (every county but Sutter and Humbolt), all of which had 2009 uninsured rates that were above the statewide average of 24 percent. The losses were due to sharp increases in local unemployment and corresponding drops in both household income and job-based coverage, the report’s authors said.”