Healthcare Insurance Rates Rise by 2.9% in 2014, Census Says
By - The rate of uninsured Americans decreased by 2.9 percent between 2013 and 2014, says the latest data from the US Census Bureau, thanks to higher rates of coverage for private and government payers. In 2014, only 33 million Americans lacked health insurance, compared to 41.8 in 2013, representing some of the most significant progress since before the Affordable Care Act was passed five years ago.
“Since the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, several provisions of the ACA have gone into effect at different times,” the report explains. “For example, in 2010, the Young Adult Provision enabled adults under age 26 to remain as dependents on their parents’ health insurance plans. Many more of the main provisions went into effect on January 1, 2014, including the expansion of Medicaid eligibility and the establishment of health insurance marketplaces.”
“In 2014, people under age 65, particularly adults aged 19 to 64 years, may have become eligible for coverage options under the ACA. Based on family income, some people may have qualified for subsidies or tax credits to help pay for premiums associated with health insurance plans.”
“In addition, the population with lower income may have become eligible for Medicaid coverage if they resided in one of the 24 states (or the District of Columbia) that expanded Medicaid eligibility,” the Census Bureau added.
Other notable findings from the report include the following:
• Close to 90 percent of people had health insurance for all or part of 2014, compared to just 86.7 percent the prior year. Significantly more people had private health insurance than government coverage (66 versus 36.5 percent).
• Government-issued insurance exhibited a higher rate of growth between 2013 and 2014 than private coverage. Private payers increased their patient pool by 1.8 percent during the past year, while government insurance coverage grew by 2 percent.
• Medicaid and direct purchase insurance rates also increased between 2013 and 2014. Direct purchase enrollment increased by 3.2 percent, while Medicaid expanded by 2 percent.
• Fifty-five percent of the population receives coverage through their employers, while 19.5 percent use Medicaid and 16 percent use Medicare. Less than five percent of the population uses military health insurance.
• The number of uninsured children under the age of 19 decreased by 1.3 percent, from 7.5 percent in 2013 to 6.2 percent in 2014. The uninsured rate for children living in poverty was 3 percent higher than those living above the poverty line.
• Non-Hispanic white residents had the lowest uninsured rate among ethnic groups, at 7.6 percent. Nearly 12 percent of black Americans were uninsured in 2014, while 9.3 percent of Asians lacked health coverage. Hispanics were most likely to be without insurance coverage, with 19.9 percent of respondents lacking coverage for all or part of 2014.
• States that did not expand Medicaid coverage were significantly more likely than other states to experience high levels of uninsured residents. Many states in the Deep South currently record uninsured rates of 14 percent or higher.
Full results from the US Census Bureau’s examination of health insurance coverage rates are available by clicking here.
