Uninsured

New and noteworthy

Quote from KFF President and CEO Drew Altman reads, "when it comes to the “affordability crisis” driving the national discussion of health care today, the chronically ill, and most of all the chronically ill uninsured, are the tip of the spear."

The Group that Struggles the Most in American Health Care

In a new column, Dr. Drew Altman, KFF’s Founding President and CEO, previews findings about the chronically ill uninsured from a large KFF survey of 25,000 Americans focusing on the cost and access challenges facing the chronically ill, which will be released tomorrow. He writes: “There are more than enough needs to go around in American health care, but if I had to pick the one group that struggles the most with costs and access, it would be people with chronic illnesses who are also uninsured.”

Other “Beyond the Data” columns >>

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.

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.

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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  • The Affordable Care Act and Insurance Coverage in Rural Areas

    Issue Brief

    Rural populations face disparities compared to metropolitan populations in health care. While rural individuals were not more likely to be uninsured than metropolitan counterparts pre-Affordable Care Act, they were poorer and less likely to have private insurance. With coverage changes in the ACA involving an expansion of Medicaid for poor and near-poor populations, decisions by states with large rural populations may cause rural residents to have disparate access to coverage, which may exacerbate cost and…

  • Strategies in 4 Safety-Net Hospitals to Adapt to the ACA

    Issue Brief

    This brief examines four safety-net hospitals to learn how they were preparing for the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), in order to gain additional insight into the strategies being used and challenges being faced among safety-net hospitals across the country.

  • The Cost of Not Expanding Medicaid

    Report

    As states wrap up legislative sessions and make decisions about whether to implement the Medicaid expansion included in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), this new analysis highlights the implications of these decisions for coverage, state budgets and providers. The decisions by as many as 27 states not to adopt the Medicaid expansion will leave a many more uninsured; these states would also forgo billions in federal funds.

  • Access Barriers More Common Among Uninsured Women

    Feature

    Access Barriers More Common Among Uninsured Women Download Source Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Medical Expenditures Panel Survey, 2010. **Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MMWR, Cancer Screening- US, 2010, 2012.

  • Number of Nonelderly Uninsured Individuals, 2007-2011

    Feature

    Number of Nonelderly Uninsured Individuals, 2007-2011 Download Source KCMU/Urban Institute analysis of 2009 through 2012 ASEC Supplement to the CPS. Holahan J and Chen V. “Changes in Health Insurance Coverage in the Great Recession, 2007-2010.” Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the  Uninsured. December 2011.