A new analysis released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows that nearly 90 percent of people who recently gained health insurance have incomes that qualify them for marketplace subsidies or Medicaid coverage. The high percentage who qualify for assistance shows the important effect the Medicaid expansion and insurance subsidy components of the Affordable Care Act had on expanding coverage over the last year, according to the experts that conducted the analysis.
The analysis goes on to say that of the people who gained health insurance in the last 12 months, 81.8 percent report being in good, very good or excellent health; however, a higher percentage of the newly insured (18.2%) report being in fair or poor health compared to people already insured. Furthermore, the newly insured tend to be younger than those who already had coverage – 50.4 percent under age 35 versus just 33.0 percent of those who were insured for the previous 12 months.
Finally, the authors from the Urban Institute note that lack of coverage did not necessarily equate with lack of health care. More than half of those newly insured said they had a routine check-up within the last year or so; two-thirds said they had a usual source of care. Still, many may not have received the care they need, so the authors say helping the newly insured form connections with primary care providers will be vital for ensuring the newly insured receive high-quality health care.
“This early glimpse at the newly insured suggests they are both younger and more likely to report being in fair or poor health as compared with currently insured adults. These may prove to be somewhat offsetting traits in terms of their use of health care services, but clearly we have much to learn about the utilization experience of this population,“ said Kathy Hempstead, who leads coverage issues at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The data used for the analysis come from the Urban Institute's Health Reform Monitoring Survey, which is conducted quarterly with additional funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Ford Foundation.
