Dive Brief:
- The number of uninsured Americans has dropped by more than 15 million since 2013, the Obama administration said Wednesday.
- The National Center for Health Statistics said 29 million people were uninsured in the first three months of this year - 7 million fewer than the average for last year. The data is based on the National Health Interview Survey for more than 26,000 people.
- In people between age 18 to 64, the uninsured dropped by one-third to 25.5 million during this year's first quarter from 39.6 million in 2013. The number of uninsured children (under age 18) declined to 3.4 million this year from 4.8 million in 2013.
Dive Insight:
The first quarter of this year, according to the Obama administration, found 9.2 percent of Americans uninsured, down from 14.4 percent in 2013, prior to ACA provisions. Substantial coverage gains were seen in Hispanics, where 29.3 percent (age 18 to 64) were uninsured, down from 40.6 percent in 2013.
More dramatic drops were seen in states that chose to expand Medicaid: 18.4 percent were uninsured in 2013 compared to 10.6 percent in this year's first quarter. In states that did not expand Medicaid, 22.7 percent were uninsured in 2013 compared to 16.8 percent in the first quarter of this year.