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The rate of uninsured individuals has steadily decreased since the passing of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). From 2010-2015, research from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) found that coverage gains have been shared widely across groups of all races, ages, and income levels. The overall uninsured rate for Americans in all income groups fell by 40%.
“Regardless of your income, age, geography, or race, everyone is gaining access to coverage or better coverage under the Affordable Care Act,” said Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell in a statement. “Going into the fourth Open Enrollment, Americans have experienced historic coverage gains.”
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The new report from HHS detailed how different provisions of the ACA have worked to reduce the uninsured rates in the country. The ACA’s insurance expansions have had a dramatic effect on Latinos, where the number of uninsured fell from 36% to 29%.
“People can’t be discriminated against because of preexisting conditions, young adults can stay on a parent’s plan until age 26, and working families without employer coverage can get help paying for health insurance,” said Burwell. “People who already had health insurance have benefited from new protections like free preventive services, as well as from slower growth in employer premiums.”
The near-equal percent drops in uninsured rates across groups indicate that the ACA is reducing the uninsured rate most in absolute terms among groups that had the highest uninsured rates before the law. Individuals age 26-34 and 35-54 saw similar percentage drops in uninsured rates. However, as the younger group had a higher pre-ACA uninsured rates, a larger fraction of them have gained coverage since its passage. In the first quarter of 2016, the national uninsured rate dropped again from 9.1 percent to 8.6 percent.
Coverage gains have also been broadly shared across racial and ethnic groups of non-elderly adults:
- Asian (non-Hispanic): 59% reduction
- Black (non-Hispanic): 47% reduction
- White (non-Hispanic): 46% reduction
- Latinos: 35% reduction
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By The Numbers
25.1
percent
of Latinos remain without health insurance coverage
