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New and noteworthy

Affordability Is the Issue Now, But Look for the Uninsured to Make a Comeback

A new column on the uninsured from President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman explains: “The uninsured is not the most politically salient problem in health care now, that’s affordability, nor is it the non-problem some say it is. But it’s coming back. And the problem of the chronically ill uninsured is glaring.” Read more.

Key Facts about the Uninsured Population

The number and share of people without insurance grew in 2024, increasing for the first time since 2019, according to KFF’s analysis of data from the American Community Survey (ACS). This issue brief describes trends in health coverage in 2024, examines the characteristics of the uninsured population , and summarizes the access and financial implications of not having coverage.

More on the uninsured population >>

Data and analysis

The Uninsured and Health Coverage

This Health Policy 101 chapter examines the share of the United States population who are uninsured, highlighting their demographics and the challenges they face because of the lack of coverage.

State Health Facts: Health Coverage & the Uninsured

Get data on health insurance status for the population overall and broken down by age, gender, and income. More than 800 up-to-date health indicators at the state level can be mapped, ranked, and downloaded through State Health Facts.

How Many Uninsured Are in the Coverage Gap?

An estimated 1.4 million uninsured individuals in the 10 states without Medicaid expansion, including many working adults, people of color, and those with disabilities, remain in the “coverage gap,” ineligible for Medicaid or for tax credits that would make ACA coverage affordable to them.

Key Facts on Health Coverage of Immigrants

This fact sheet provides an overview of health coverage for immigrants based on data from the 2023 KFF/LA Times Survey of Immigrants. As of 2023, half of likely undocumented immigrant adults and one in five lawfully present immigrant adults reported being uninsured.

Who was uninsured in 2024?

Latest Polling
9.8%

The share of people under age 65 without insurance
62%

The share of uninsured adults who said they were uninsured because coverage is not affordable
59%

The share of uninsured adults who said they or someone living with them had problems paying for health care
39%

The share of uninsured adults who reported delaying or not getting needed care or medication due to cost
Other key facts about the uninsured >>

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  • Snapshots from the Kitchen Table: Family Budgets and Health Care

    Report

    This report from the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) illustrates the financial struggles of many families in the United States and shows the central role of health care costs and coverage in a household's economic stability. The report, , is based on interviews with 27 families from six cities across the U.S.. It finds pervasive uncertainty over job security and households teetering on the financial brink, stretching to pay for…

  • Community Health Centers in an Era of Health Reform: An Overview and Key Challenges to Health Center Growth

    Issue Brief

    Over 1,100 federally funded community health centers play a vital role in ensuring access to health care for a predominantly low-income population in medically underserved communities. Health centers’ ability to provide comprehensive primary care and improve access to high-quality care while holding down health care cost growth has been well-documented. As health reform spurs coverage expansion and efforts to improve quality, the nation’s reliance on health centers is likely to grow. In the Affordable Care…

  • Pulling it Together: The People Behind The Entitlement Debate

    Perspective

    Well before we have any clarity on the impact of the election on health reform, the pundits are handicapping the prospects of efforts to make a serious dent in the national debt and deficit.  Three national commissions are hammering out recommendations for reducing the debt and reining in entitlement spending, putting two giant health programs that serve the elderly, disabled and low-income Americans, Medicaid and Medicare, as well as Social Security, in the crosshairs of…

  • Optimizing Medicaid Enrollment: Spotlight on Technology – Using Schools and Data Matching to Enroll Kids in Medicaid and CHIP

    Issue Brief

    This brief examines efforts by the Chicago Public School system to use multiple strategies including data matching with the school lunch program, marketing and local organizing to target children for outreach and enrollment in public health insurance and other benefits. It is the third brief in a Spotlight on Technology series profiling several states' innovative applications of technology to Medicaid enrollment efforts. The series illustrates a range of approaches that states can adopt to improve…

  • Health Insurance Coverage in America:  2003 Data Update

    Report

    Health Insurance Coverage in America: 2003 Data Update This chartbook provides 2003 data on health insurance coverage, with special attention to the uninsured. It includes trends and major shifts in coverage and a profile of the uninsured population. Chartbook (.pdf)

  • Report and Video Highlight Health Coverage Struggles, Other Economic Concerns of Working Families

    Event Date:
    Event

    This report and video from the Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) illustrate the financial struggles of many families in the United States and show the central role of health care costs and coverage in a household's economic stability. The report, Snapshots from the Kitchen Table: Family Budgets and Health Care, is based on interviews with 27 families from six cities across the U.S.. It finds pervasive uncertainty over job security…

  • The Adequacy of Health Insurance

    Event Date:
    Event

    Testimony by Diane Rowland, executive vice president and executive director of the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, at a congressional hearing, titled “Addressing Underinsurance in National Health Reform,” held Feb. 24, 2009, by a special task force of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Rowland discussed the status of health insurance coverage in America and the gaps and limits to coverage that leave millions of Americans poorly protected…

  • Choices Under the New State Child Health Insurance Program: What Factors Shape Cost and Coverage? – Policy Brief

    Issue Brief

    Choices Under The New State Child Health Insurance Program: What Factors Shape Cost And Coverage? January 1998 The State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), enacted as part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, provides over $20 billion in federal funds over five years to cover low-income uninsured children. This program gives states considerable flexibility in designing expanded health insurance coverage for children. The way states design their programs -- use of Medicaid or a…

  • Emergency Departments Under Growing Pressure

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief relies on interviews with practicing clinicians to explore the impact of the recession on hospital emergency departments that are under growing pressure as patient volume increases, health coverage declines and medical costs present new challenges to unemployed families. Issue Brief (.pdf)

  • National Council of Jewish Women features article on “Diagnosing Women’s Health Care”

    Other Post

    National Council of Jewish Women features article on “Diagnosing Women’s Health Care” Kaiser Vice President and Director of Women's Health Policy, Alina Salganicoff, authored an article titled "Diagnosing Women’s Health Care" featured in the National Council of Jewish Women's magazine, NCJW Journal, volume 29. The article highlights the special challenges that many women face in affording and accessing comprehensive health care in the U.S. It discusses the state of women's health coverage, emerging issues for…