By Alabama Public Radio
Montgomery, AL – New figures show Alabama has been doing better than the national average on two health coverage issues. A boost in government-provided insurance has helped. Between 2000 and 2002, nearly 28 percent of Alabamians received some form of government insurance coverage. The U-S average was nearly 26 percent. Those numbers include medical coverage from Medicaid, Medicare and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Alabama's average population without insurance also was lower than the national average during that time. About 13 percent of state residents had no health insurance, while the U-S average was almost 15 percent.