New Gallup Poll: Uninsured Rate Drops!
In U.S., Uninsured Rate Dips to 11.9% in First Quarter
The uninsured rate among U.S. adults declined to 11.9% for the first quarter of 2015 – down one percentage point from the previous quarter and 5.2 points since the end of 2013, just before the Affordable Care Act went into effect. The uninsured rate is the lowest since Gallup and Healthways began tracking it in 2008.
The uninsured rate declined at a slightly slower pace following the second open enrollment period of the federal exchanges compared with the first. The first time around, the uninsured rate fell 1.5 points to 15.6% for the first quarter of 2014 from 17.1% for the fourth quarter of 2013. Comparatively, in that same time frame this year, the uninsured rate fell one point – from 12.9% to 11.9%.
Uninsured Rate Drops Most Sharply Among Lower-Income Americans and Hispanics
While the uninsured rate has declined across all key demographic groups since the healthcare law fully took effect in January 2014, it has dropped most among lower-income Americans and Hispanics – the groups most likely to lack insurance. The uninsured rate among Americans earning less than $36,000 in annual household income dropped 8.7 points since the end of 2013, while the rate among Hispanics fell 8.3 points. The significant drop in uninsured Hispanics is a key accomplishment for the Obama administration, which led targeted efforts to insure this group as they had the highest uninsured population of all key subgroups.
Americans aged 26 to 34 have also seen gains in coverage since the healthcare law went into effect -- the uninsured rate among this group is down 7.4 points since the end of 2013, the largest drop among any age group. Blacks have also seen a substantial drop in their uninsured rate since the fourth quarter of 2013 -- 7.3 points.
The uninsured rate among 18- to 64-year-olds dropped to 14.5% in the first quarter of 2015 from 20.8% at the end of 2013, with most of the dip reflecting Americans gaining coverage through self-funded plans, Medicaid and Medicare.
The 21.1% of U.S. adults under the age of 65 who say they are covered by a self-funded plan is up 3.5 points since the fourth quarter of 2013. This is likely because more Americans have purchased individual plans through a federal or state health insurance exchange.
And the media is taking note:
Nearly nine out of 10 Americans now have health insurance, a sharp improvement from two years ago before Obamacare was put in place.
A poll by Gallup found that the uninsured rate among U.S adults declined to 11.9% in the first quarter, down one percentage point from the end of last year and an improvement from the 18% without insurance in the fall of 2013, when the Americans were first were able to sign up for coverage at state and federal exchanges.
This is the lowest percentage of Americans without coverage since Gallup started tracking the figure in 2008.
- Associated Press – Nearly 9 in 10 US adults now have health insurance
Underlining a change across the nation, nearly 9 out of 10 adults now say they have health insurance, according to an extensive survey released Monday.
Coverage gains from 2014-2015 translate to about 3.6 million fewer adults uninsured since the fall, before open enrollment got under way, according to Gallup.
On balance, an estimated 14.75 million adults have gained coverage since the fall of 2013, when the law's first open enrollment season was about to begin, according to Gallup.
- Huffington Post – Uninsured Rate Gets Lower And Lower, Thanks To Obamacare
The Affordable Care Act was designed to slash the percentage of Americans who lack health insurance, and it's working.
The latest uninsured figure from the Gallup survey is the lowest since the polling firm began tracking the number in 2008, and contributes to a remarkable decline of 5.2 percentage points in the share of people without health coverage since the end of 2013, just before the first wave of Obamacare health insurance enrollees joined the ranks of the insured.
- International Business Times – Obamacare Enrollment: Almost 9 Out of 10 Americans Now Have Health Insurance, Poll Finds
The percentage of adults in the United States who lacked health insurance during the first quarter of 2015 is at a record low of 11.9 percent, according to a new poll released Monday by Gallup and Healthways. The rate fell one percentage point from the first quarter of 2015 and was the lowest since Gallup began tracking uninsured rates in 2008.
The uninsured rate peaked at 18 percent midway through 2013 after climbing steadily up from about 14 percent in 2008, data from Gallup showed. Gallup attributed the recent drop in the amount of uninsured Americans in part to "an improving economy and falling unemployment rate." But it suggested that because the most recent uninsured rate was lower than it had been even before the 2008 recession, economic recovery was not the sole reason for the declining rates of the uninsured.
The national uninsurance rate continues to drop to historic lows under the Affordable Care Act, suggesting that the law is making significant progress in its goal of reducing the number of people going without health care coverage. Now, nearly nine in ten American adults say they have insurance, according to the latest survey from Gallup.
- The Hill – Uninsured rate drops again under ObamaCare
A new survey finds that only 11.9 percent of people in the United States lacked health insurance in the first quarter of the year, a drop of 5.2 percent since ObamaCare went into effect.