Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Trends in the Uninsured, 2004 to 2015

In less than 24 months, the percentage of working-age adults without health insurance has plummeted. It's not often social scientists get the opportunity to observe, in just a few months time, so big a change in such an important socioeconomic indicator.

In the decade prior to implementation of the Affordable Care Act in 2014, the percentage of 18-to-64-year-olds without health insurance averaged 20.4 percent, the figure ranging from a low of 19.3 percent in 2005 to a high of 22.3 percent in 2010. Between 2013 (pre-ACA) and 2015 (post-ACA), the percentage without health insurance fell by a jaw-dropping (for social scientists, at least) 7.5 percentage points—to a record low of 12.9 percent...

People aged 18 to 64 without health insurance, 2004 to 2015
2015: 12.9%
2014: 16.3%
2013: 20.4%
2012: 20.9%
2011: 21.3%
2010: 22.3%
2009: 21.2%
2008: 19.9%
2007: 19.6%
2006: 20.0%
2005: 19.3%
2004: 19.4%

Note: 2015 figure is for the January-September time period.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Health Insurance Coverage: Early Release of Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, January-September 2015 and Health, United States, 2014

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