News Feature | September 19, 2014

Some States Struggling With Uninsured Rates Post-Obamacare

Christine Kern

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

States Struggle With Unisured

Despite a reduction of uninsured at a national level, some individual states are still struggling.

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

While the Affordable Care Act played a key role in the rate of uninsured Americans dropping to a record low of 13.4 percent, rates differed dramatically across states. WalletHub set out to determine which states saw the greatest change in the rate of uninsured and recently published its findings.

WalletHub started with a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation that provided the best estimate to date of the proportion of private health plan enrollees under Obamacare who previously lacked health insurance and therefore would be gaining coverage under the new law. Based on their nationally representative survey of adults who purchase their own insurance, KFF found 57 percent of private plan enrollees were previously uninsured.

Combining this new data point with information on the number of new Medicaid recipients and private plan enrollees under Obamacare, WalletHub analysts offered an initial projection of uninsured rates post-Obamacare for 43 states and the District of Columbia.

Following are the 10 states with the highest uninsured rates according to WalletHub, with seven states excluded from the analysis because of data limitations.

10. Georgia

Pre-ACA uninsured rate: 21.66 percent
Post-ACA projected uninsured rate: 18.16 percent
Difference before and after: -3.50 percent

9. Wyoming

Pre-ACA uninsured rate: 18.92 percent
Post-ACA projected uninsured rate: 18.29 percent
Difference before and after: -0.63 percent

8. Oklahoma

Pre-ACA uninsured rate: 19.76 percent
Post-ACA projected uninsured rate: 18.33 percent
Difference before and after: -1.43 percent

7. Alaska

Pre-ACA uninsured rate: 20.48 percent
Post-ACA projected uninsured rate: 18.96 percent
Difference before and after: -1.52 percent

6. Nevada

Pre-ACA uninsured rate: 26.52 percent
Post-ACA projected uninsured rate: 19.58 percent
Difference before and after: -6.94 percent

5. New Mexico

Pre-ACA uninsured rate: 24.29 percent
Post-ACA projected uninsured rate: 19.59 percent
Difference before and after: -4.69 percent

4. Florida

Pre-ACA uninsured rate: 24.73 percent
Post-ACA projected uninsured rate: 19.61 percent
Difference before and after: -5.12 percent

3. Louisiana

Pre-ACA uninsured rate: 22.41 percent
Post-ACA projected uninsured rate: 20.91 percent
Difference before and after: -1.50 percent

2. Mississippi

Pre-ACA uninsured rate: 18.11 percent
Post-ACA projected uninsured rate: 21.46 percent
Difference before and after: 3.34 percent

1. Texas

Pre-ACA uninsured rate: 26.8 percent
Post-ACA projected uninsured rate: 24.81 percent
Difference before and after: -1.99 percent

The analysis also made a number of state comparisons, including projecting the following states to see the largest drop in adult uninsured rates: West Virginia, Oregon, Rhode Island, Kentucky, and Washington. Not surprisingly these states also saw the most new Medicaid enrollees per capita. The states that had the most net new private insurance enrollees per capital were Florida, Idaho, Montana, North Carolina, and California.

Ultimately, according to the study, blue states have fewer uninsured residents that red states, with red states having an average rank of 28.52 percent compared to the blue average of 15.90 percent.