New Kaiser Family Foundation Study Shows Number Of Uninsured In 2016
When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was first enacted in 2010, the mission was clear: provide affordable healthcare to the millions of Americans without it. Depending on who you speak with, up to 20 million Americans have been covered under the ACA’s coverage through Medicaid, government exchanges, and children under 26 years of age staying on their parents’ insurance plans.
However, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) study, more than 27.5 million Americans did not have health insurance in 2016. So who are these people?
- 7.9 million are adults eligible for premium tax credits to purchase coverage through the healthcare marketplace.
- 4.1 million are adults eligible for Medicaid.
- 3.9 million are undocumented immigrants ineligible for ACA coverage.
- 3.7 million have an offer for employee sponsored insurance but have declined such coverage.
- 2.9 million could purchase insurance on government exchanges, but have incomes that make them ineligible for premium tax credits to offset premium costs.
- 2.7 million are children eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
- 2.4 million fall into the “coverage gap.” These individuals have incomes below the poverty line, but do not qualify for Medicaid because their states decided not to expand Medicaid as allowed under the ACA. They also are not eligible for premium tax credits to offset insurance costs through the healthcare marketplace. People in the coverage gap would be eligible for Medicaid if their state decided to expand Medicaid.
The study noted that 46% of those who are insured live in one of these six states: Texas (4.2 million), California (2.9 million), Florida (2.4 million), Georgia (1.2 million), New York (1 million), or North Carolina (1 million).
The KFF study found that only about 2% of those uninsured go without insurance because they don’t want coverage. The most prominent reasons people were uninsured were limits on eligibility, ongoing concerns about cost, or lack of awareness of affordable options. The study found that a significant number of uninsured adults remained without insurance because the cost of healthcare coverage was too high, even with the availability of financial assistance.
“There are still substantial opportunities to increase coverage by reaching those who are eligible for help under the ACA,” concluded the study. “However, given confusion and misinformation about the ACA, many may be difficult to reach without targeted and effective outreach to explain coverage options and assist with enrollment.”
With the Trump administration cutting funds needed to promote ACA open enrollment and to provide outreach, education, and enrollment assistance to consumers eligible for coverage through the government marketplaces, reducing the number of uninsured will be challenging in 2018.
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