10.3 Million Gained Coverage Under Obamacare
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
The rate of uninsured has dropped to just over 16 percent at end of April.
About 10.3 million Americans gained insurance coverage since the full implementation of Obamacare last year, according to an analysis published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The uninsured rated dropped to 16.3 percent at the end of April, down from 21 percent before the initial open enrollment period for plans on the new insurance exchanges.
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced the release of the study, which examines trends in insurance before and after the open enrollment period and finds greater gains among those states that expanded their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act.
“We are committed to providing every American with access to quality, affordable health services and this study reaffirms that the Affordable Care Act has set us on a path toward achieving that goal,” said Secretary Burwell. “This study also reaffirms that expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act is important for coverage, as well as a good deal for states. To date, 26 states plus D.C. have moved forward with Medicaid expansion. We’re hopeful remaining states will come on board and we look forward to working closely with them.”
The uninsured rate for adults ages 18 to 64 fell from 21 percent in September 2013 to 16.3 percent in April 2014, according to study findings. This corresponded to a 5.2 percentage-point change, or 10.3 million adults gaining coverage. While the decline in the uninsured was significant for all age, race/ethnicity, and gender groups, the largest changes occurred among Latinos, blacks, and adults ages 18-34 – groups the Administration targeted for outreach during open enrollment.
Coverage gains were concentrated among low-income adults in states expanding Medicaid and among individuals in the income range eligible for Marketplace subsidies, with a 5.1 percentage point reduction in the uninsured rate associated with Medicaid expansion. In states that have not expanded their Medicaid programs, the change in the uninsured rate among low-income adult populations was not statistically significant.
The report also examined access to care, determining that within the first six months of gaining coverage, more adults (approximately 4.4 million) reported having a personal doctor and fewer (approximately 5.3 million) experienced difficulties paying for medical care.
This study does not include data from before 2012, as coverage was changing rapidly during this period, which means the results do not include the more than 3 million young adults who gained health insurance coverage through their parents’ plans.
Using survey data from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index for January 1, 2012, through June 30, 2014, the authors analyzed changes in the uninsured rate over time. This is also the first study to associate reductions in the uninsured rate with state-level statistics on enrollment in the Marketplaces and Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, as described in HHS enrollment reports, and to assess the impact of the improved coverage on access to care.