CDC Survey Shows Uninsured Rate Continues to Drop for Adults, Remains Steady for Kids

Yesterday we heard more good news about declining uninsured rates for adults – especially in states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act – while uninsured rates for children continue to hold steady. These were some of the findings included in the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) report for the first six months of 2014 released today by the Centers for Disease Control.

The survey found that the overall percentage of adults (age 18 – 64) that were uninsured at the time of the survey fell from 16.6% in 2013 to 14% in the first six months of 2014, a period when major provisions of the Affordable Care Act first took effect. Uninsured adults living in Medicaid expansion states had an estimated 14.1% uninsured rate while those living in non-expansion states had an uninsured rate of about 20.2%.

There was no statistically significant change in the percentage of children who were uninsured at the time of the interview, uninsured for at least part of the past year, or uninsured for more than a year. While these are preliminary estimates, these finding track with what we reported with the Urban Institute in September using their Health Reform Monitoring Survey data. Because children have higher insurance rates, its harder to capture change. But as we said then, the “no change” finding is an important sign that progress in reducing the number of children has paused. That’s important since Congress must soon consider the future of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which expires September 30, 2015 when it reconvenes in January.

It’s also important to note, as we did at the time, that these national snapshots do not capture all of the fluctuations in children’s coverage that may be occurring in particular states.

The CDC data also offered some interesting comparisons of health coverage status by income levels. The survey found that the uninsured rate was greatest for the “near poor” children or those living between 100% and 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. This mirrors a finding we reported on in our recent study of uninsured children which uses American Community Survey data.

NHIS provides one of the most rigorous and timely national snapshots that we can possibly get from a trusted federal data source. These early snapshots help bring the changing landscape of health coverage into sharper focus and offer policymakers critical insights into how children and families are faring. We will have to wait patiently until 2015, though, to be able to look closely at what is happening state-by-state.

Joan Alker is the Executive Director of the Center for Children and Families and a Research Professor at the Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy.

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