Dive Brief:
- According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, in the last five years, the Affordable Care Act has helped to insure around 16.4 million non-elderly adults.
- Those who have gained coverage include 2.3 million young adults who were able to stay on their parents' insurance and 14.1 million adults who obtained coverage through Medicaid expansion, state-run and federal marketplaces and other sources
- HHS officials say that since 2012, the percentage of people without health insurance coverage has dropped by around 33%.
Dive Insight:
HHS officials say these figures represent an "historic" reduction in the number of uninsured. "The Affordable Care Act is working to drive down the number of uninsured and the uninsured rate," Richard Frank, HHS assistant secretary for planning and evaluation, told reporters. "Nothing since the implementation of Medicare and Medicaid has seen this kind of change."
States that expanded their Medicaid programs saw the largest reduction in the number of low-income uninsured, although states that did not expand their programs also saw a decline.