National uninsured rate reaches an all-time low in early 2023 after the close of the ACA open enrollment period
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Data point (United States. Department of Health and Human Services. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. Office of Health Policy)
- Contributor(s):
- United States. Department of Health and Human Services. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. Office of Health Policy, issuing body.
- Publication:
- Washington, D.C. : Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Office of Health Policy, August 3, 2023
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Insurance Coverage -- statistics & numerical data Insurance Coverage -- trends Medically Uninsured -- statistics & numerical data United States United States.
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- The nation’s uninsured rate declined significantly in early 2023, relative to 2020, reaching an all time low of 7.7 percent for U.S. residents of all ages in the first quarter (January-March) of 2023, based on new data from the National Health Interview Survey. Approximately 6.3 million people--including 5.5 million adults ages 18-64 and 0.7 million children ages 0-17--have gained health coverage since 2020. These gains in health insurance coverage are concurrent with the implementation of the American Rescue Plan’s enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, the Inflation Reduction Act’s continuation of those subsidies, the continuous enrollment condition in Medicaid, recent state Medicaid expansions, and substantial Marketplace enrollment outreach by the Biden-Harris Administration in 2021-2023. Uninsured rates among adults ages 18-64 declined from 14.5 percent in late 2020 to 11.0 percent in early 2023. The uninsured rate among children ages 0-17, which had increased during 2019 and 2020, fell from 6.4 percent in late 2020 to 4.2 percent in early 2023. Approximately 5.8 percent of adults ages 18-64 reported having ACA Marketplace coverage in early 2023 compared to 4.4 percent in 2020. Changes in uninsured rates from 2021 to Q1 2023 were largest among individuals with incomes below 100% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and incomes between 200% and 400% FPL, with uninsurance rates for non-elderly individuals in both income groups decreasing 3.0 percentage points from early 2021. These gains in insurance follow record breaking sign-ups for health coverage in the ACA Marketplaces during the 2022 and 2023 Open Enrollment Periods, with the increased Marketplace enrollment contributing to the substantial growth of private coverage. These results highlight the significant gains in health insurance coverage that occurred in 2021, 2022 and early 2023 associated with the Biden-Harris Administration’s policies to support health insurance expansion. These gains build on the large reductions in the uninsured rate that occurred after the implementation of the ACA in 2014, which research demonstrates produced improved health outcomes, access to care, and financial security for families. These results are likely to mark the lowest point in the uninsured rate in 2023. Each year, the first quarter of the year generally marks the lowest uninsured rate, as people transition to new sources of coverage, or periods without insurance coverage, over the remainder of the year. In addition, in April of 2023, the Medicaid continuous coverage condition came to an end, so some people will transition out of Medicaid coverage, including to other sources of insurance coverage over the coming months.
- Copyright:
- The National Library of Medicine believes this item to be in the public domain. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (11 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918697333206676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918697333206676