Uninsured

Data and analysis

The coverage gap exists because some states did not expand Medicaid under the ACA to cover adults under age 65 without dependent children with incomes at/below 138% of the federal poverty level (FPL)

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 ACA tax credits that would make coverage affordable.

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.

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.

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 >>

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

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  • Bar chart shows the estimated 10-year federal spending reductions from delaying implementation of the Biden administration's Medicare Savings Program rule and the Eligibility and Enrollment rule. Delaying these two Medicaid eligibility rules will cut federal spending by $122 billion and increase the uninsured by 400,000 over ten years

    The Impact of H.R. 1 on Two Medicaid Eligibility Rules

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief describes the impact of H.R.1's 10-year delay in implementing provisions in two Medicaid eligibility rules that would have reduced red tape. The delayed rules are projected to decrease federal spending and future Medicaid and CHIP enrollment and increase coverage loss.

  • We’ve Never Seen Health Care Cuts This Big

    Perspective

    In this July 1 column for The New York Times Opinion section, KFF Executive Vice President for Health Policy Larry Levitt explains how the budget reconciliation bill passed by the Senate on July 1 is effectively a partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and, if signed into law, the resulting reductions in Medicaid and ACA Marketplace coverage would make it "the biggest rollback in federal support for health coverage ever."

  • Advancing Opportunities, Assessing Challenges: Key Themes from a Roundtable Discussion of Health Care and Health Equity in the South

    Issue Brief

    This brief summarizes the primary themes expressed by participants of a roundtable discussion of current and future opportunities and challenges for advancing health care and health equity in the South organized by Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured and the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.

  • Does the Affordable Care Act Cover the Uninsured?

    From Drew Altman

    Drew Altman, in The Wall Street Journal's Think Tank, discusses what a new Foundation survey finds about one of the biggest questions about the Affordable Care Act: whether it covers the uninsured.

  • Web Briefing: What Worked, What’s Next? Strategies in Four States Leading ACA Enrollment Efforts

    News Release

    On Monday, July 28 from 1 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EDT, the Kaiser Family Foundation will hold an interactive web briefing to examine the experiences and lessons of four states - Colorado, Connecticut, Kentucky, and Washington - that each established state-based Marketplaces, expanded their Medicaid programs, and successfully enrolled eligible individuals into Medicaid and Marketplace coverage under the ACA. The briefing will draw upon a new issue brief released today by the Foundation’s Kaiser Commission…

  • How Obamacare’s Progress Makes Expanding Coverage Harder

    From Drew Altman

    This was published as a Wall Street Journal Think Tank column on July 21, 2014. The Affordable Care Act’s success meeting its initial enrollment goals and the repair of HealthCare.gov seem to have calmed the political waters for Obamacare. But the job of enrolling the uninsured gets harder, not easier, because the remaining uninsured will generally be tougher to reach. Recent surveys show, roughly in line with expectations, that 8 million to 9.5 million fewer adults are uninsured compared with last year before…

  • Where are California’s Uninsured Now? Wave 2 of the Kaiser Family Foundation California Longitudinal Panel Survey

    Report

    This second wave of the Kaiser Family Foundation's California uninsured survey assesses the impact of the Affordable Care Act to date on state residents who were uninsured prior to open enrollment. The results capture the share of previously uninsured Californians who gained coverage or remained uninsured, how they feel about and interact with their new coverage options and what barriers to getting insurance remain. The report examines breakouts by race, coverage type, and other demographic…