Modest Decline In Uninsured Rate As ACA Kicks In
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index records 1.2 percentage point drop in uninsured rates for American adults in January
The latest Gallup-Healthways Poll assessed the U.S. uninsured rate at 16.1 percent so far in January, down from 17.3 percent in December with the institution of the ACA’s requirement for Americans to have health insurance on Jan. 1. Gallup also found that the percentage of uninsured adults aged 18 and older for January 2-19 was slightly lower than in any month since December 2012.
Findings from the poll show that the uninsured rate so far in January fell at a greater rate among the unemployed than among the employed, with a drop of about 6.7 percentage points for unemployed, but that the unemployed still hold the highest uninsured rate at 34.1 percent. Additionally, the uninsured rate has fallen more among nonwhites than whites, from 29.1 percent in December 2013 to 26.5 percent in January 2014. The unemployed and nonwhite populations are traditionally groups far more likely to be uninsured than the population as a whole.
There were shifts in other subgroups as well. Women saw a decline of 1.9 percentage points, three times greater than the drop among men, while uninsured rates also fell across the income levels, with those making $36,000-$89,999 seeing the greatest drop, 1.8 percentage points.
The survey found no appreciable change among young adults ages 18-34, the most coveted, low-cost demographic.
The AP reports, "The uninsured rate had been expected to come down as the Affordable Care Act was implemented," said Frank Newport, Gallup's editor in chief. "That would be the most reasonable hypothesis." Nonetheless, Newport emphasized, it could take a calendar quarter — three months — to fully discern a trend, since other factors could also be behind the shift, including an improving economy.
"It's a drop, but not extraordinary," said Newport. "The glass is half full for proponents of the Affordable Care Act because things are moving in the right direction. But the glass is half empty because things haven't moved much." The increase in coverage among unemployed people "comports with what the Affordable Care Act was intended to do," Newport added.
The results of the Gallup Poll are somewhat at odds with the figures of the Obama Administration, which presents a figure as high as 9 million benefitting from the new healthcare enrollments. The administration’s figures include individuals using the new Health Exchanges to purchase insurance, as well as those newly enrolling in Medicaid and young adults now able to remain on their parents’ coverage until they are 26. This could account for some “double dipping,” since these individuals might have been previously covered.
The survey was based on telephone interviews from January 2-19 with a random sample of 9,145 adults aged 18 and older in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total national sample, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 1 percentage point.
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