African American and Hispanic individuals in the United States are more likely to be uninsured throughout adulthood than non-Hispanic individuals (Kirby and Kaneda 2010). Without insurance, people face considerable barriers in receiving health services.
Full Answer
Who are the most uninsured Americans?
Most Uninsured Were Working-Age Adults. In 2017, the number of people without health insurance increased to 28.0 million, up from 27.3 million the year before, according to the latest American Community Survey data released today.
How does the US medical system affect uninsured Americans?
The medical system in the US can be described as awesome for people who receive coverage through their employers. However, the lack of insurance can have considerable consequences on the quality of life, and the financial well-being of a large number of uninsured Americans.
How can I find out more about the uninsured population?
To find out more about the uninsured population, such as employment characteristics, disability status, nativity and residence, or about the uninsured population in smaller geographic areas (states, counties and zip codes), see Table S2702 " Selected Characteristics of the Uninsured in the United States ”.
Who are the people without health insurance in the US?
Over half of all people without health insurance coverage were male (54.6 percent), even though the U.S. population has more women than men. About 4 in 10 uninsured people were non-Hispanic white, while nearly 6 in 10 people in the United States were non-Hispanic white.
What group is the most uninsured?
Young Adults (Ages 18 Through 24 Years) Almost three out of every ten young adults do not have health insurance. Members of this age group are nearly twice as likely to be uninsured compared to members of the general population under age 65.
Which person is at highest risk for being uninsured?
Individuals with income below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL)1 are at the highest risk of being uninsured (Appendix Table B). In total, more than eight in ten (82.6%) of uninsured people were in families with incomes below 400% of poverty in 2019 (Figure 4). Most (85.4%) of the uninsured are nonelderly adults.
How do uninsured populations access medical care?
How do uninsured populations access medical care? - Medical services for the uninsured are underwritten by pharmaceutical companies that manufacture the drugs they are prescribed.
What was the most common reason for lack of insurance among adults?
Among uninsured adults aged 18–64, the most common reason for being currently uninsured was that coverage was not affordable. The percentage of uninsured adults who were uninsured because coverage was not affordable increased with age, from 66.8% among those aged 18–29 to 80.9% among those aged 50–64.
What race uses Medicaid the most?
WhitesAn estimated 47.3% of Whites, 40.0% of African Americans, and 30.0% of Native Americans met new eligibility criteria for Medicaid, compared with 81.1% of Asian Americans, 57.0% of Latinos, and 55.1% of individuals of more than 1 race.
Who are the uninsured people in the US?
Uninsured people In 2020, 31.6 million (9.7%) people of all ages were uninsured at the time of the interview (Table 1). This includes 31.2 million (11.5%) people under age 65. Among children, 3.7 million (5.0%) were uninsured, and among working- age adults, 27.5 million (13.9%) were uninsured (Figure 1).
Who has the least access to healthcare?
5 Groups Lacking Access to HealthcareThe Uninsured. The National Institutes of Health estimates 35 million people in the United States lack access to basic health insurance coverage. ... Rural Populations. Rural communities often lack access to healthcare. ... The Elderly. ... Racial Minorities. ... The Economically Disadvantaged.
What percent of us is uninsured?
An estimated 9.6% of U.S. residents, or 31.1 million people, lacked health insurance when surveyed in the first six months of 2021, according to preliminary estimates from the National Health Interview Survey released yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
What percentage of the population is on Obamacare?
In 2016, 9 in 10 Americans had health insurance, thanks to the Affordable Care Act—in fact, the numbers reached 91.5% of Americans by 2018.
What groups are unlikely to have health insurance?
The ACA's coverage expansions led to significant declines in uninsured rates among people who had been the most likely to be uninsured: people with low incomes, Latinos, and young adults (Table 1). But in 2018, these groups remained disproportionately uninsured.
Why is the number of uninsured rising?
The increase in the uninsured is also partially attributable to a provision of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that repealed the individual mandate, which went into effect in 2019. Without a penalty for not having health insurance, some individuals opted to forgo coverage.
Which racial group is least likely to have health insurance?
In 2021, the national average was 11.4 percent. White Americans had a below average rate of just 7.5 percent, whereas 11.8 percent of Black Americans had no health insurance.
What kind of people don't have healthcare?
The ACA's coverage expansions led to significant declines in uninsured rates among people who had been the most likely to be uninsured: people with low incomes, Latinos, and young adults (Table 1). But in 2018, these groups remained disproportionately uninsured.
Which age category has the highest incidence of those without health insurance?
Most at risk are adults aged 18 to 34 years; almost 3 out of every 10 persons in this age group lack health insurance. In contrast, just over 1 out of every 10 children younger than 18 years of age lack health insurance.
Why do people choose to be uninsured?
uninsurance has been attributed to a number of factors, including rising health care costs, the economic downturn, an erosion of employer-based insurance, and public program cutbacks. Developing effective strategies for reducing uninsurance requires understanding why people lack insurance coverage.
How many uninsured Americans are there in 2019?
However, beginning in 2017, the number of uninsured nonelderly Americans increased for three straight years, growing by 2.2 million from 26.7 million in 2016 to 28.9 million in 2019, and the uninsured rate increased from 10.0% in 2016 to 10.9% in 2019.
Why are people uninsured in 2019?
In 2019, 73.7% of uninsured adults said that they were uninsured because the cost of coverage was too high. Many people do not have access to coverage through a job, and some people, particularly poor adults in states that did not expand Medicaid, remain ineligible for financial assistance for coverage.
What is the impact of the drop in Medicaid coverage among Hispanics?
Drops in coverage among Hispanic people drove much of the increase in the overall uninsured rate in 2019. Changes to the Federal public charge policy may be contributing to declines in Medicaid coverage among Hispanic adults and children, leading to the growing number without health coverage.
How many states have uninsured people in 2019?
Changes in the number of uninsured individuals varied across states in 2019. A total of 13 states experienced increases in the number of nonelderly uninsured individuals, including nine Medicaid expansion states and four non-expansion states.
What is the uninsured rate in 2019?
The uninsured rate among children was 5.6% in 2019, less than half the rate among nonelderly adults (12.9%), largely due to broader availability of Medicaid and CHIP coverage for children than for adults (Figure 5). Figure 5: Uninsured Rates among the Nonelderly Population by Selected Characteristics, 2019.
What is the ACA?
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) sought to address the gaps in our health care system that leave millions of people without health insurance by extending Medicaid coverage to many low-income individuals and providing subsidies for Marketplace coverage for individuals below 400% of poverty.
What percentage of the uninsured are white?
While a plurality (41.1%) of the uninsured are non-Hispanic White people, in general, people of color are at higher risk of being uninsured than White people. People of color make up 43.1% of the nonelderly U.S. population but account for over half of the total nonelderly uninsured population (Figure 4).
How many people are uninsured in 2017?
Most Uninsured Were Working-Age Adults. In 2017, the number of people without health insurance increased to 28.0 million, up from 27.3 million the year before, according to the latest American Community Survey data released today.
What percentage of the uninsured population did not complete high school?
People who did not complete high school made up a much larger part of the uninsured population (26.9 percent) than the overall population (11.8 percent). The uninsured population was also disproportionately more likely to live in poverty.
What is the average age of uninsured people?
In fact, most uninsured people (84.6 percent) were 19- to 64-year-olds. The two largest groups in that age range are 26- to 34-year-olds and 35- to 44-year-olds. About 1 in 4 uninsured people were 26 to 34 years old, and about 1 in 5 people ages 34 to 44. But that’s not all the figure below tells us. Over half of all people without health insurance ...