A man using two canes is helped in the waiting area at Nuestra Clinica Del Valle in San Juan, Texas. Source: AP/Eric Gay
Washington, D.C. —(ENEWSPF)–September 17, 2015. New data released by the U.S. Census Bureau today provide more support that the Affordable Care Act is working. The Census reported overall declines among people without health insurance coverage: 10.4 percent in 2014, a 3 percentage-point drop, or 33 million people, down from 41.8 million in 2013.
Health care coverage is expanding in every state, but a new column from the Center for American Progress shows that millions more Americans could be covered if the 20 states that have not yet expanded Medicaid were to do so.
Fast facts
States that expanded Medicaid before 2015 saw their uninsured rates drop by an average of 3.1 percentage points in 2014, for a relative reduction of 25 percent from 2013.
Nonexpansion states saw their uninsured rates drop by an average of 2 percentage points in 2014, for a relative reduction of 13.4 percent from 2013.
Texas reduced its uninsured population by 13.6 percent, with an estimated 701,000 Texans gaining coverage in 2014. If Texas had expanded Medicaid and seen gains similar to those in other states, its uninsured rate could have dropped by an additional 11.4 percent last year.
Florida reduced its uninsured population by 17 percent, with an estimated 608,000 Floridians gaining coverage in 2014. If Florida had expanded Medicaid and seen gains similar to those in other states, its uninsured rate could have dropped by an additional 8 percent last year.
Note: Four states that did not expand Medicaid in 2014—Pennsylvania, Indiana, Alaska, and Montana—have done so in 2015, though Montana’s expansion still requires federal approval before it can take effect.
Read the full column, “2014 Census Data Confirm Dramatic Impact of the Affordable Care Act” by Thomas Huelskoetter, and see accompanying infographics online here.
More from CAP on poverty and income Census findings, plus what’s missing in the data:
3 Things You May Have Missed in the New Poverty, Income, and Inequality Data by Melissa Boteach, Shawn Fremstad, and Rachel West
New Census Data Show that the Middle Class Is Not Recovering Fast Enough by Alex Rowell and David Madland
Filling in the Map: The Need for LGBT Data Collection by Kellan Baker and Laura E. Durso
Related resources:
The 50th Anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid: Providing Hope for the ACA’s Future by Justin Morgan
Myth Busting: Medicaid and Low-Income Pool Facts by Kristen Ellingboe and Sarah Baron
Source: www.americanprogress.org
