Uninsured Rate Falls Five Percentage Points Since September 2013
About 10.3 million previously uninsured U.S. residents have gained health insurance, either through Medicaid or the insurance exchanges, since the first Affordable Care Act open enrollment period in 2013, according to a new HHS report, Modern Healthcare reports (Herman, Modern Healthcare, 10/31).
Uninsured Rate Down Across Demographics
The report, from the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, relies on data from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index to evaluate the rate of uninsured individuals between September 2013 through June 2014 (Finegold/Gunja, ASPE Issue Brief, 10/31).
According to the report, the uninsured rate during that time period declined:
- From 20.3% to 15.1% overall;
- By 6.8% among blacks, with 1.7 million people gaining coverage; and
- By 7.7% among Latinos, with 2.6 million people gaining coverage.
While data on the uninsured are incomplete for 2014, the report notes, "It seems likely that future data will show that the Affordable Care Act is continuing to provide health insurance coverage to a large and growing group of Americans" (Modern Healthcare, 10/31).
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