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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.

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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  • The Role of Consumer Copayments for Health Care: Lessons From the RAND Health Insurance Experiment and Beyond

    Report

    The appropriate level of cost-sharing for patients remains a key issue in designing both private and public health insurance. This report reviews the groundbreaking RAND Health Insurance Experiment from the 1970s to offer insights into current policy debates about appropriate cost-sharing levels. One of the most ambitious health policy studies in U.S. history, the RAND experiment randomly assigned thousands of families to insurance with varying levels of patient co-insurance. The researchers followed the participants for…

  • USA Today/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health National Survey of Households Affected by Cancer

    Poll Finding

      USA Today/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health National Survey of Households Affected by Cancer This USA Today/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health National Survey provides an in-depth examination of how families cope with cancer and highlights problems of health insurance and health care costs through the lens of those who have experienced this major illness. The survey shows the disease’s devastating impact often extends beyond an individual patient to affect entire families…

  • Health Coverage For Low-Income Children.

    Fact Sheet

    Health Coverage For Low-Income Children This fact sheet profiles the low-income children population, describes sources of health insurance coverage for the population, and summarizes trends and issues about their health coverage. Fact Sheet (.pdf)

  • Study Shows Uninsured Receive Less Care and Experience Worse Outcomes

    Event Date:
    Event

    A new study commissioned by the Kaiser Family Foundation and authored by Dr. Jack Hadley of The Urban Institute and featured in the March 14, 2007, Journal of the American Medical Association theme issue on Access to Care documents that people who are uninsured receive less care and have worse outcomes following an accident or the onset of a new chronic condition than those with insurance. The study -- based on analysis of eight years…

  • Pulling It Together: Critical Path To Health Reform: Stage One

    Perspective

    Will there be a big debate about health reform in the general election? If there is it will elevate the issue further, engage the public, and create momentum and a mandate for action by a new President and Congress. If, however, the debate about health is tepid or health is eclipsed by other issues such as the economy and Iraq, momentum could falter. One measure of the level of debate will be whether or not…

  • The Decline in the Uninsured in 2007: Why Did It Happen and Can It Last?

    Issue Brief

    This policy brief examines the underlying shifts in health insurance coverage in 2007, which resulted in a 1.5 million decrease in the number of uninsured people under age 65, due to increased public coverage. This includes about 300,000 in Massachusetts, which implemented its comprehensive health reform that year. The brief also projects that the current economic downturn and rising unemployment rate likely will cause the number of uninsured to grow by at least 2 million…

  • Pulling it Together from Drew Altman: Multiple Agendas for Controlling Health Care Costs

    Perspective

    In what would be a domestic policy trifecta, we may be headed for interconnected big debates about economic recovery, entitlement programs and health reform. A core issue in the entitlement and health reform debates is the problem of rising health care costs. President Obama, now apparently fully briefed on the economic, budget and health reform realities he faces, is talking conspicuously about hard choices that may lie ahead. In a short period of time the…

  • About 5 Million Uninsured People Could Get ACA Marketplace Coverage Without a Monthly Premium – But They Would Have to Enroll Soon

    News Release

    About 5 million uninsured people across the country could get coverage through an Affordable Care Act Marketplace health plan with virtually no monthly premium if they enroll soon, a new KFF analysis finds. In most states, open enrollment runs through January 15, with tax credits available to help eligible low- and middle-income people afford coverage. Those tax credits would offset the full monthly premium for the lowest cost plan or plans for millions of uninsured…

  • How Could the Build Back Better Act Affect Uninsured Children?

    Issue Brief

    This brief examines characteristics of uninsured children in 2020 and discusses how current policy proposals, including outreach efforts, continuous eligibility requirements, and closing the coverage gap, could affect children’s health coverage. Recent efforts to expand coverage for adults could benefit children’s coverage, especially for children in non-expansion states if the coverage gap is filled as proposed by the Build Back Better Act (BBBA).

  • As States Prepare to “Unwind” the Medicaid Continuous Enrollment Provision, Past Patterns Show That Most People Who Are Disenrolled from Medicaid Become Uninsured for All or Part of the Next 12 Months

    News Release

    Roughly two-thirds (65%) of people who were disenrolled from Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in a recent year became uninsured for all or part of the 12 months that followed, a new KFF analysis finds. The analysis of enrollment data from the 2016-2019 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) suggests that many of the millions of people across the U.S. who are expected to lose Medicaid following the end of the pandemic-era continuous…