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The Number of Uninsured Is Dropping, but Not Thanks to Obamacare Exchanges
By Philip Bump
2 hours ago
Two new surveys clearly show that the number of people who lack health insurance in the United States has dropped but largely not because people have enrolled in Obamacare exchanges.
Gallup's monthly survey of the uninsured, which in February discovered that the number of uninsured had dropped to pre-recession levels, reported on Monday that the rate had dropped further. Only 15.6 percent of Americans lack insurance coverage as of the end of March, down from 17.1 percent at the end of December. The two groups that saw the biggest drops were black Americans and those earning less than $36,000 annually.
What Gallup doesn't dive into is where people are gaining insurance. That's where the new survey from the RAND Corporation comes in.
Interestingly, RAND discovered that the vast majority of new insurance coverage came not from enrollments in the Obamacare exchanges, as you might expect. Instead, it was heavily from expansions of coverage by employers and from the expansion of Medicaid a component of the Affordable Care Act that about half of the states embraces, and which largely explains the big drop in the number of poor people who lack insurance. About 8.2 million more people have employer-based coverage now versus last September, RAND found, and about 5.9 million more people are enrolled in Medicaid. Sign-ups on the Obamacare exchanges added another 3.9 million.
The Number of Uninsured Is Dropping, but Not Thanks to Obamacare Exchanges
By Philip Bump
2 hours ago
Two new surveys clearly show that the number of people who lack health insurance in the United States has dropped but largely not because people have enrolled in Obamacare exchanges.
Gallup's monthly survey of the uninsured, which in February discovered that the number of uninsured had dropped to pre-recession levels, reported on Monday that the rate had dropped further. Only 15.6 percent of Americans lack insurance coverage as of the end of March, down from 17.1 percent at the end of December. The two groups that saw the biggest drops were black Americans and those earning less than $36,000 annually.
What Gallup doesn't dive into is where people are gaining insurance. That's where the new survey from the RAND Corporation comes in.
Interestingly, RAND discovered that the vast majority of new insurance coverage came not from enrollments in the Obamacare exchanges, as you might expect. Instead, it was heavily from expansions of coverage by employers and from the expansion of Medicaid a component of the Affordable Care Act that about half of the states embraces, and which largely explains the big drop in the number of poor people who lack insurance. About 8.2 million more people have employer-based coverage now versus last September, RAND found, and about 5.9 million more people are enrolled in Medicaid. Sign-ups on the Obamacare exchanges added another 3.9 million.
The Number of Uninsured Is Dropping, but Not Thanks to Obamacare Exchanges
