Long-Term Uninsured the Largest Group To Gain Affordable Care Act Coverage, Study Finds

Adults who were uninsured for more than three years were the largest group to gain health insurance coverage once the benefits under the Affordable Care Act took effect in 2014, according to a new AHRQ study in Health Affairs. In 2013, before the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion and marketplace subsidies took effect, about 18 percent of non-elderly adults were uninsured, with more than half having been uninsured for more than three years. In 2014, the uninsured rate had dropped to about 14 percent, and those uninsured for more than three years decreased to 7 percent. The decline in the number of people who had been uninsured for three years or more was greater than the decline in the number among people who had been uninsured for shorter periods. AHRQ researchers used data from the 2013–2014 National Health Interview Survey to conduct the analysis. Access the abstract of the article, “Most Newly Insured People in 2014 Were Long-Term Uninsured.”

Most Newly Insured People In 2014 Were Long-Term Uninsured

Sandra L. Decker1,* and
Brandy J. Lipton2

+Author Affiliations

¹Sandra L. Decker (Sandra.decker@ahrq.hhs.gov) is a senior fellow at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, in Rockville, Maryland.
²Brandy J. Lipton is a senior fellow at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

↵*Corresponding author

Abstract

In 2014—after the implementation of most of the Affordable Care Act provisions, including Medicaid expansions in some states and subsidies to purchase Marketplace coverage in all states—adults who had been uninsured for more than three years represented a larger share of the newly insured, compared to adults who had been insured for shorter periods of time.

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VOL. 36| NO. 1

January 2017

Coverage Expansion, Accountable Care & More