Health insurance statistics for Americans with disabilities

We analyzed health insurance data from the U.S. Census Bureau and found that Americans with disabilities are more likely to have health insurance coverage than those without disabilities. Public health insurance is most common, but many people with disabilities have both private and public coverage. 

If you have an illness or injury that’s temporarily or permanently disabling, disability insurance benefits can help pay for your health insurance premiums, deductibles, rent or mortgage, childcare, and whatever else you need while you’re taking time off work.

Methodology: How we got these numbers

We analyzed data from the 2022 American Community Survey, which is a yearly survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Our data comes from the ACS’s 5-year estimates.

How many people with a disability have health insurance?

Out of the 42 million people with disabilities in the United States, about 39.6 million have health insurance, according to our analysis of 2022 Census Bureau data. That leaves about 2.3 million Americans with disabilities uninsured (5.6%).

People without disabilities are more likely to be uninsured than their counterparts. Nearly 26 million people without disabilities don’t have health insurance, a 9.1% share.

Source: Policygenius analysis of the 2022 American Community Survey

State-by-state health insurance coverage for residents with disabilities

Health insurance coverage for people with disabilities is different in every state. There are only two states where more than 10% of the population with disabilities is uninsured (Texas and Oklahoma).

	Have health insurance	Don’t have health insurance	Percent uninsured
Alabama	740,677	60,169	7.5%
Alaska	82,325	6,669	7.5%
Arizona	886,461	56,492	6.0%
Arkansas	497,973	25,306	4.8%
California	4,104,711	170,447	4.0%
Colorado	594,449	30,999	5.0%
Connecticut	401,636	12,633	3.0%
Delaware	130,122	3,802	2.8%
District of Columbia	70,612	2,047	2.8%
Florida	2,672,014	203,487	7.1%
Georgia	1,209,957	126,688	9.5%
Hawaii	163,280	4,136	2.5%
Idaho	234,062	17,139	6.8%
Illinois	1,393,011	62,881	4.3%
Indiana	871,452	45,113	4.9%
Iowa	371,323	10,840	2.8%
Kansas	354,897	31,157	8.1%
Kentucky	753,233	24,733	3.2%
Louisiana	686,492	31,420	4.4%
Maine	203,761	9,485	4.4%
Maryland	664,461	21,783	3.2%
Massachusetts	807,158	13,367	1.6%
Michigan	1,360,830	42,368	3.0%
Minnesota	607,779	22,749	3.6%
Mississippi	452,077	44,002	8.9%
Missouri	809,484	67,006	7.6%
Montana	144,936	6,516	4.3%
Nebraska	215,397	15,816	6.8%
Nevada	370,181	25,712	6.5%
New Hampshire	169,523	6,509	3.7%
New Jersey	924,135	41,904	4.3%
New Mexico	323,245	15,267	4.5%
New York	2,292,365	62,754	2.7%
North Carolina	1,268,330	99,187	7.3%
North Dakota	81,223	5,174	6.0%
Ohio	1,567,405	68,486	4.2%
Oklahoma	574,587	69,881	10.8%
Oregon	600,219	24,857	4.0%
Pennsylvania	1,737,112	62,205	3.5%
Rhode Island	141,376	3,655	2.5%
South Carolina	666,135	55,865	7.7%
South Dakota	96,493	7,721	7.4%
Tennessee	960,864	82,463	7.9%
Texas	2,981,266	377,116	11.2%
Utah	306,420	20,758	6.3%
Vermont	89,549	2,644	2.9%
Virginia	965,559	51,455	5.1%
Washington	946,722	38,933	3.9%
West Virginia	324,863	11,073	3.3%
Wisconsin	667,106	22,433	3.3%
Wyoming	70,804	6,102	7.9%

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Source: Policygenius analysis of the 2022 American Community Survey

At the same time there are 14 states where more than 10% of the population without disabilities is uninsured: Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Mississippi, Alaska, Wyoming, Nevada, Arizona, both Carolinas, New Mexico, and Tennessee.

Types of health insurance for people with disabilities by state

People with disabilities are more likely to have public rather than private health insurance — though about 11.7 million many have both. There are 30.5 million people with disabilities with a public health insurance plan, and 20.8 million with a private plan (59.5%). 

The ratio of public to private plans is highest in New Mexico, where public health insurance makes up 65.8% of total plans for residents with disabilities.

	Have private health insurance	Have public health insurance	Percent with public health insurance
Alabama	408,430	574,352	58.4%
Alaska	44,290	62,090	58.4%
Arizona	459,300	689,950	60.0%
Arkansas	222,710	409,661	64.8%
California	1,906,303	3,221,211	62.8%
Colorado	333,296	434,972	56.6%
Connecticut	204,800	309,217	60.2%
Delaware	76,912	100,565	56.7%
District of Columbia	32,947	55,688	62.8%
Florida	1,350,520	2,108,004	61.0%
Georgia	657,889	906,589	57.9%
Hawaii	103,940	126,357	54.9%
Idaho	133,745	177,103	57.0%
Illinois	750,413	1,047,539	58.3%
Indiana	463,523	662,076	58.8%
Iowa	206,942	287,999	58.2%
Kansas	217,417	255,491	54.0%
Kentucky	352,814	610,727	63.4%
Louisiana	307,088	556,457	64.4%
Maine	106,077	163,556	60.7%
Maryland	398,794	491,070	55.2%
Massachusetts	422,283	630,146	59.9%
Michigan	757,243	1,077,117	58.7%
Minnesota	352,174	462,071	56.7%
Mississippi	215,024	358,730	62.5%
Missouri	431,822	613,751	58.7%
Montana	78,838	114,558	59.2%
Nebraska	129,885	156,882	54.7%
Nevada	190,735	279,828	59.5%
New Hampshire	99,612	124,928	55.6%
New Jersey	514,008	699,906	57.7%
New Mexico	141,621	272,089	65.8%
New York	1,119,905	1,839,240	62.2%
North Carolina	690,929	983,616	58.7%
North Dakota	52,514	57,824	52.4%
Ohio	779,629	1,228,100	61.2%
Oklahoma	323,581	431,597	57.2%
Oregon	311,154	467,855	60.1%
Pennsylvania	946,315	1,377,373	59.3%
Rhode Island	67,940	109,715	61.8%
South Carolina	361,001	527,015	59.3%
South Dakota	57,059	71,900	55.8%
Tennessee	501,754	749,145	59.9%
Texas	1,605,944	2,162,967	57.4%
Utah	201,695	189,622	48.5%
Vermont	45,446	71,797	61.2%
Virginia	574,358	710,468	55.3%
Washington	532,475	713,778	57.3%
West Virginia	160,328	272,341	62.9%
Wisconsin	373,128	514,273	58.0%
Wyoming	42,940	52,015	54.8%

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Source: Policygenius analysis of the 2022 American Community Survey

Combining disability insurance and health insurance

Health insurance is different from disability insurance, but that doesn’t mean they can’t work together. Health insurance covers the cost of medical care and doesn’t pay you directly, while disability insurance pays direct benefits if you can’t work because of an injury or illness.

You can cover your out-of-pocket health insurance costs — like premiums, deductibles, coinsurance, out-of-network care, and more — using the benefit payments from your disability insurance, but, since your benefits replace your income, you can also use the money for whatever else you need while you can’t work, like groceries, childcare, rent, or transportation.

Disability insurance isn’t mandatory like health insurance is, but it’s worth having. Benefit payments can replace between 60% and 80% of your income, but consider getting your own policy rather than relying only on the coverage you get through work.

Read more about how disability insurance works