Percentage of N.C. residents without health insurance rises

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. The percentage of non-elderly North Carolinians who lacked health insurance increased more than two percent last year.



A university study says the numbers went from 15-point-three percent in 2000 to 17-and-a-half percent in 2004.



Researchers say the problem was greatest in eastern North Carolina.



Researchers found that eight of the ten counties with the highest proportion of uninsured residents younger than 65 are east of Interstate 95.