The Washington Post
November 21, 2014
By Jason Millman
With open enrollment for Obamacare, it’s a good time to count the millions of people who still don’t have insurance coverage. Around 10.3 million people gained coverage in the first year of expanded coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), leaving about 32 million still lacking coverage.
The Big Picture
Overall uninsured rate dropped from 18 percent before last year’s open enrollment period to 13.4 percent after the sign-up period ended in April.
What about the young invincibles?
The young adults made coverage gains over the past year, but people between 18 and 34 years old still trail other age groups.
Coverage gains across racial groups
An earlier Gallup poll from June also showed declines in the uninsured rate among whites, blacks and Hispanics. There has been a particularly strong emphasis on enrolling Hispanics, whose uninsured rate actually dropped 5.5 percentage points.
Geography matters
As expected, the uninsured rate has dropped faster for adults in about half the states that expanded their Medicaid programs. This effect is particularly noticeable in the southern states, which have resisted the Medicaid expansion and is now home to a greater share of uninsured adults.
Slowing progress for kids
It seems that the children’s uninsured rate has been leveling off over the past couple of years, according to the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University.
Enrollment period? What enrollment period?
It’s going to take some extra effort to reach the remaining uninsured. About nine in 10 uninsured adults potentially eligible for marketplace coverage didn’t know the enrollment opened again in November and about two-thirds of the uninsured didn’t bother looking for coverage in the past enrollment period.
Why aren’t they signing up?
A Kaiser poll from earlier in the year, just after the first Obamacare enrollment period ended, also showed some confusion about people’s obligations to get covered under the law.
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