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Table 1 shows Texas compared to the five selected states and the U.S. regarding population,average income, and breakdown of sources of health insurance. See the “Profiles of SelectedStates” section later in this paper for more details on each of these states.Table 1. Characteristics of Selected States and the U.S., 2003MedianPercent inPercentPercentPercent inPopulation HouseholdMedicaid/Employer-UninsuredMedicareIncomeSCHIPBasedPercentIndividualInsuranceTexas 21,660,190 $40,934 25 13 9 48 4Arkansas 2,661,490 $33,259 17 17 15 46 5Colorado 4,441,080 $50,224 17 11 9 58 6Florida 16,637,520 $38,572 18 12 16 48 6Maine 1,272,010 $37,619 11 18 15 51 5Minnesota 5,060,020 $54,480 8 10 10 65 6U.S. 287,368,410 $43,527 16 13 12 54 5Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, State Health Facts, available at http://www.statehealthfacts.org, accessed April1, 2005. (Their source for the insurance data was the March 2003 and 2004 Current Population Surveys, which isconducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and is based on self-reported data.)Notes: Median Household Income is a yearly average from 2001-2003. Insurance categories may not add acrossexactly to 100 percent due to rounding, but they are intended to represent all insurance types. Medicaid/SCHIPcategory also includes military, veterans, and other types of public insurance, as well as people eligible for bothMedicaid and Medicare. The Medicare category represents people with only Medicare, as well as people withMedicare plus private insurance.Innovations in Other StatesSeveral states have developed their own unique or uncommon solutions to expand insurance.Some of these ideas are somewhat radical and may not work in other states for demographic orpolitical reasons, but an overview of some of these initiatives could prove useful whenconsidering creative options. Several other innovative ideas are shown in the profiles of the fiveselected states later in this paper, such as the Dirigo plan in Maine and the proposal to overhaulMedicaid in Florida.Guaranteed Issue, Community Rating, Reinsurance Plans — New YorkThe state of New York has passed a variety of proactive health insurance reforms in the past 15years. Guaranteed issue for individual insurance and community rating (charging everyone inthe same community the same price for insurance, regardless of individual health status) werepassed in 1993, and New York is one of the few states with these measures in place.C-5