The uninsured rate of working adults in the United States declined from 20% to 15% after the first Affordable Care Act open enrollment period.
Sara Collins, Ph.D., of the Commonwealth Fund and her associates also found that 6 in 10 newly covered patients have used their health plan to visit a doctor or hospital, or to fill a prescription.
The Commonwealth Fund tracking survey examined data from 4,425 adults about health and insurance trends from April 9 to June 2 and compared the findings with those from a 2013 Commonwealth Fund survey.
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The uninsured rate among patients aged 19-64 years went from 20% for July to September 2013 to 15% for April to June 2014.
The uninsured rate among patients aged 19-64 years went from 20% for July to September 2013 to 15% for April to June 2014. For young adults (19-34 years), the uninsured rate dropped from 28% to 18% over the same time period. Among the Hispanic community, uninsured patients declined from 36% to 23%, the survey found. The findings were published July 10.
In states that expanded Medicaid, the uninsured rate fell from 28% to 17% for patients at the poverty level. However, in states that chose not to expand Medicaid, the rate of uninsured poor patients changed from 38% to 36%.
The survey findings provide early evidence that the ACA’s coverage provisions are helping Americans most at risk for lacking health insurance, Dr. Collins and associates noted. Evidence also shows that the new insurance coverage is helping people gain new access to the health care system. Nearly three-fourths of previously uninsured adults who used their new plan reported they would not have received the same care prior to gaining coverage.
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