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Dive Brief:

• The uninsurance rate held steady in 2025, according to preliminary data released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the number of Americans without coverage is slated to increase in the years ahead amid cuts to federal healthcare spending.
• Last year, 8.3% of residents of all ages, or 28 million people, were uninsured. That amount is flat compared with the 8.2% uninsurance rate in 2024, according to the survey. 
• However, the number of people without coverage is poised to tick up in the future due to healthcare funding cuts enacted in the “Big Beautiful Bill” last summer, including those to the safety-net insurance program Medicaid. 

Dive Insight: 

Adults between the ages of 18 and 64 were most likely to go without health insurance last year, with 11.6% of the group going without coverage, according to the preliminary release of government data on health insurance coverage.

In comparison, 5.6% of children were uninsured, and just 0.7% of seniors ages 65 and older didn’t have health insurance.

The number of uninsured people wasn’t significantly different from 2024 to 2025 across age groups. 

Still, the flat growth comes after the uninsurance rate among adults has largely declined in recent years. For example, 13.5% of adults between the ages of 18 and 64 were uninsured in 2021. And among Hispanic adults, the uninsurance rate has fallen from 30.1% five years ago to 21.9% in 2025. 

However, the uninsurance rate is likely to grow in the coming years amid significant federal policy changes. Last year, President Donald Trump signed a sweeping tax bill into law that included more than $1 trillion in cuts to federal healthcare spending over the next decade, leading to an additional 10 million unsinured Americans, according to a report by the Congressional Budget Office.

Medicaid is a major target of those funding cuts. Still, some of the law’s biggest changes — like work requirements to stay enrolled in the coverage — haven’t gone into effect yet, though some states are planning to implement the work mandates early. 

Last year, 21% of adults had public insurance coverage, which includes Medicaid, according to the CDC survey. That declined slightly from 21.2% in 2024, though it wasn’t significantly different. 

Another policy change that could increase the number of Americans without health coverage is the expiration of more generous financial assistance for Affordable Care Act plans. Enhanced premium subsidies expired at the end of 2025, increasing costs for enrollees and pushing some people to drop their health plans — and some became uninsured.

The ACA marketplaces have become larger sources of coverage in recent years. In 2025, 6.3% of adults younger than age 65 had exchange-based coverage, compared with 4.3% in 2021, according to the CDC.