Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
The 13 Percent: A Look At Who Is Still Uninsured 6 Years Into Health Law
Roughly 20 million more Americans have health insurance now than when President Obama鈥檚 health care law was passed in 2010. But as Mr. Obama prepares to leave office, there are still about 24 million adults with no coverage, according to a survey by the Commonwealth Fund, a health research group. That translates to an uninsured rate of about 13 percent, down from 20 percent in 2013. Who are the remaining uninsured? (Goodnough, 8/18)
Some of those remaining uninsured are undocumented immigrants who don鈥檛 qualify for federally subsidized coverage. Others may be eligible but unaware of their options, and still others said they were worried about costs, according to the survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the foundation.) There is a lingering perception 鈥渢hat it is not affordable for them,鈥 said Bianca DiJulio, an associate director at the foundation. Many of those still without coverage are Latino; one-third of all Latino survey respondents are still uninsured. (Gorman, 8/18)
Nearly three-quarters of Californians who didn鈥檛 have health聽coverage before the Affordable Care Act are now insured, yet many are still concerned about their medical expenses, according to a report released Thursday. A Kaiser Family Foundation survey tracking the state鈥檚 uninsured population found that 72% of those without insurance in 2013聽had a health plan in 2016. That鈥檚 a small increase聽from the 68%聽who had coverage last year and聽58% the year prior. (Karlamangla, 8/18)
The study, the fourth in a series of surveys of Californians who did not have health insurance in 2013, found that 72 percent have since obtained coverage, either through their employer, the state exchange created by the federal health law or through Medi-Cal, the state鈥檚 Medicaid program for the poor. This number is slightly higher than the 68 percent reported last year, a gain that represents hundreds of thousands of newly insured Californians. The state had the largest number of uninsured in the country, with about 6 million residents lacking coverage in 2013. (Colliver, 8/18)
From here on, experts say, any significant enrollment gains are likely to come about as a result of changes to federal or state health care policies, including attempts by California legislators to allow undocumented residents to join Medi-Cal, which is now prohibited. (Seipel, 818)
