This week, Gallup released the results of its latest survey of Americans’ health insurance status. The survey shows that an estimated 15.9% of Americans remain uninsured in 2014 – down from 17.1% in the last three months of 2013. According to Gallup, these rates are the lowest since 2008.
The data reveal a number of interesting trends. For example, low-income individuals saw the greatest increases in insurance coverage, which means those with the lowest incomes are signing up for coverage through the Marketplaces faster. Additionally, the survey found that employer-provided coverage is on the decline; although some have argued that these declines are within the survey’s margin of error.
The survey 28,000 landline and cell phone-based interviews between January 2nd and February 28th. While these data aren’t the last word on rates of insurance coverage, they certainly represent an important indicator of how new opportunities for insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act may actually be impacting the ranks of the uninsured – a topic we wrote about late last month.
