SHADAC Staff

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Update to SHADAC’s Minnesota Uninsured Profile Tool Features Customized Legislative District Infographics Aimed at Addressing Disparities

Our research team at SHADAC has continued its partnership with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Minnesota to complete a new tool that provides critical information on the uninsured populations in Minnesota at the legislative district level. Using the most up-to-date estimates available from the United States Census Bureau, (2014-2018 American Community Survey, 5-year estimates) this unique set of infographics are designed to identify and categorize legislative districts with high uninsured rates using color-coded state maps and graphics that provide a deeper look into the socioeconomic data of each Minnesota House and Senate district.

In these new infographics, state legislative maps are color-coded according to four levels of need for coverage assistance: Needs Most Assistance (uninsured rate of 7.1% or more); Needs Significant Assistance (uninsured rates between 4.8-7.0%); Needs Some Assistance (uninsured rates between 2.4-4.7%); and Needs Less Assistance (under 2.3%).

Users are able to click on an individual district in the accompanying PDF to access a two-page infographic that contains detailed socioeconomic data about that respective district's uninsured population, such as race, ethnicity, income, and age. These infographics are designed to provide clear and concise snapshots of coverage needs to raise awareness and assist policymakers and health insurance navigators in developing strategies to reach the remaining uninsured in the state of Minnesota.

“While uninsured data for Minnesota are available elsewhere, the data we’ve compiled within these customized infographics are the most explicit in calling out levels of need and addressing disparities within the state,” Dr. Kathleen Call explains. “We felt that it was most important to highlight these categories of need at the legislative district level, because that is where policy is made and where our data would be most useful.”

In the coming months, Dr. Call and her team plan for another update to the tool as soon as the latest data from the Census Bureau (2015-2019 ACS 5-year estimates) are released. They also plan to produce a video tutorial to assist users in utilizing the profile tool as well as the newly released infographics.

For additional information on the original uninsured profile tool, users can access the Resource Page on our SHADAC website where the tool is available for download in Excel spreadsheet format. In addition to the just-released infographics, the profile tool is accompanied by an interactive map that shows users the geographic makeup of each specified region in relation to schools, hospitals, native reservations, and other important or distinctive landmarks. Users are also able to use the site to provide feedback on the current profile tool, and can also request that a similar tool be built specifically for their state.