A new study finds that as of March 2015, 18.1 million more adults would be uninsured had the Affordable Care Act (ACA) not been passed. In total, without the ACA, 39.3 million adults would be uninsured. The report also finds the ACA is responsible for reducing the percentage of uninsured adults by nearly half (46%).
The report, authored by researchers from the Urban Institute with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is featured in the latest issue of Inquiry: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing. The report uses survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey and the Urban Institute’s Health Reform Monitoring Survey to derive its findings.
When the researchers separate the findings by income and age, they find that the percentage of uninsured fell the most among middle-income adults, as well as 19-25 year olds and 45-64 year olds. The report authors cite Medicaid expansion, health insurance tax credits, and the allowance for young adults to stay on their parents’ coverage until age 26 as primary reasons for the gains in health insurance.
“This provides yet another piece of evidence that the coverage expansion achieved by the ACA has been massive,” said Kathy Hempstead, who directs coverage issues at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
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If you would like to discuss the report or its findings with an expert, please contact Frank Walsh at 504-309-5164 or [email protected].
About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
For more than 40 years the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has worked to improve health and health care. We are working with others to build a national Culture of Health enabling everyone in America to live longer, healthier lives. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or on Facebook atwww.rwjf.org/facebook.
