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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
Other key facts about the uninsured >>

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1,131-1,140 of 1,316 results

  • Access to Care for Low-Income Women: The Impact of Medicaid

    Issue Brief

    Health coverage is of critical importance to low-income women. This study was undertaken to assess how low-income women with Medicaid, private insurance, or no insurance vary with regard to personal characteristics, health status, and health utilization. Data are from a telephone interview survey of a representative cross-sectional sample of 5,200 low-income women in Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee, Florida, and Texas. On the whole, low-income women were found to experience considerable barriers to care; however, uninsured low-income…

  • Access to Care for Low-Income Women: The Impact of Medicaid

    Other Post

    Health coverage is of critical importance to low-income women. This study was undertaken to assess how low-income women with Medicaid, private insurance, or no insurance vary with regard to personal characteristics, health status, and health utilization. Data are from a telephone interview survey of a representative cross-sectional sample of 5,200 low-income women in Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee, Florida, and Texas. On the whole, low-income women were found to experience considerable barriers to care; however, uninsured low-income…

  • Health Centers’ Role as Safety Net Providers for Medicaid Patients and the Uninsured

    Report

    This issue paper profiles the role America's health centers have played in providing care for Medicaid patients and the uninsured. The paper presents information on health center patients and revenue sources and analyzes similarities and differences both between health centers and private practices and among health centers. These centers perform a unique role in the American health care system as nearly 85 percent of their patients are low-income and more than a third of their…

  • The Characteristics and Roles of Medicaid-Dominated Managed Care Plans

    Report

    This policy brief (Publication #2180) provides a national profile of Medicaid-dominated managed care plans - those in which Medicaid enrollees make up at least 75 percent of total enrollment. While recent policy and market forces have encouraged the growth of these plans, basic information about them has been lacking, partly because many are not licensed as HMOs by states. As of June 1997, 118 of these Medicaid-dominated plans served 3.4 million Medicaid enrollees across the…

  • Health News Index – January/February 2000

    Poll Finding

    Health News Index January/February, 2000The January/February 2000 edition of the Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health, Health News Index includes questions about major health stories covered in the news, including questions about the presidential candidate's health care proposals and their stands on abortion as well as a report on the declining rate of abortion. The survey is based on a national random sample of 1,006 Americans conducted February 4-8, 2000 which measures public knowledge…

  • The Public, Managed Care and Consumer Protection

    Other Post

    The Kaiser Public Opinion Update -Revised, 2000 This new and revised Public Opinion Update summarizes key findings from surveys conducted between 1997 and 2000, a period in which the intensity of public debate and media attention paid to managed care issues varied substantially. Trends used in this Public Opinion Update are from the following Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard University, School of Public Health Surveys: September, 1997: Survey of Americans' Views on Managed Care (11/97, #1328); December,…

  • Medicaid Managed Care’s Impact On Safety-Net Clinics In California

    Fact Sheet

    Medicaid Managed Care's Impact On Safety-Net Clinics In California Medicaid Managed Care's Impact On Safety-Net Clinics In California was published in the January/February 2000 issue of the journal Health Affairs. The report provides an overview of Medi-Cal Managed Care in California, and its effects on community health clinics, and related issues. In order to better understand the impact that the Medi-Cal managed care program has had on California safety-net providers, the Kaiser Family Foundation supported…

  • A Risky Proposition?  Risk-Bearing and Solvency in California’s Medical Groups — Policy Brief

    Issue Brief

    A Risky Proposition? Risk-Bearing and Solvency in California's Medical Groups -- Policy Brief A Risky Proposition? Risk-Bearing and Solvency in California's Medical Groups is an 8-page policy brief to provide information about medical groups in California, including a discussion on risk-bearing, solvency, and proposed regulatory approaches. The brief includes a variety of perspectives presented by speakers at a California Health Policy Roundtable held in Sacramento, California on July 20, 1999. Roundtable

  • The Public’s Health Care Agenda for the New President and Congress

    Poll Finding

      The Public's Health Care Agenda for the New President and Congress This survey captures the public's attitudes regarding the health care agenda for President Obama and the new Congress in 2009. It assesses the relative priority placed on health care by the American public as part of addressing the economic recession and as a large scale reform issue. The public's priorities for health care reform and their views on a range of other health…

  • The Role of PBMs in Managing Drug Costs: Implications for a Medicare Drug Benefit

    Other Post

    Extending a drug benefit to Medicare beneficiaries has been a highly publicized issue in recent months. To address the question of how to finance and administer such a benefit while controlling its cost, some have proposed using pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs)--companies that administer pharmaceutical benefits for health plans, HMOs, and employers while managing drug utilization and obtaining discounts from both retail pharmacies and manufacturers. Most recently, the Clinton Administration introduced a proposal for a Medicare…