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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141-150 of 1,312 results

  • August Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: The Uninsured and the Health Reform Law

    Perspective

    The August Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that even though 32 million uninsured Americans will gain health insurance under the ACA, only about half of non-elderly Americans currently without coverage say they are familiar with the chief components in the law designed to achieve this goal. Fifty-two percent of the uninsured say they are aware the law will provide subsidies to help low- and moderate-income people without insurance purchase it. And 47 percent are aware that…

  • NPR/Kaiser/Harvard Survey: The Public on Requiring Individuals to Have Health Insurance – Summary and Chartpack

    Poll Finding

    This summary and chartpack provides an overview of the results from a February 2008 survey conducted jointly by NPR and public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health that examines how the public views different approaches for expanding health coverage, including provisions that would require individuals to purchase insurance or parents to obtain coverage for their children. A nationally representative sample of 1,704 adults participated in telephone interviews…

  • Retired Steelworkers and Their Health Benefits: Results from a 2004 Survey

    Report

    This Kaiser survey report looks at how the bankruptcies of two steel companies, the LTV Corporation and Bethlehem Steel, affected health coverage for the companies' retirees and dependents. The bankruptcies left about 200,000 retirees and spouses without retiree health coverage in 2002 and 2003. The report provides insight into the impact of a tax credit enacted by Congress in 2002 to provide temporary assistance to workers and retirees in "distressed" industries, including the steel industry.…

  • How Will the 2025 Reconciliation Law Affect the Uninsured Rate in Each State?

    Issue Brief

    This analysis apportions the increase in the number of uninsured across the 50 states and DC. CBO estimates that the reconciliation law will increase the number of uninsured by 10M in 2034 and rise to over 14M if enhanced premium tax credits for ACA Marketplace enrollees expire later this year.

  • Health Policy 101 Introduction

    Feature

    Health Policy 101 is a comprehensive guide covering fundamental aspects of U.S. health policy and programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, employer-sponsored insurance, the uninsured population, health care costs and affordability, women's health issues, and health care politics. It includes overviews of private health insurance regulation, racial and ethnic disparities, public health, international comparison of health systems, U.S. global health policy, and the federal role in health policy. The chapters can be downloaded…

  • Pulling it Together: A Primer on Health in the Election

    Perspective

    There is a lot of talk in polling and political circles and some speculation in the media about the role of health reform in the midterm elections. We regularly measure what the public thinks about health reform and you see reports from our monthly tracking polls about that. But whether those opinions will translate into an impact on people’s votes in the upcoming election is an entirely different question. First, to understand what might happen in…

  • How Will Health Reform Impact Young Adults?

    Issue Brief

    Adults ages 19 to 29 have the highest uninsured rate of any age group in the United States. The 13.7 million uninsured people in this age group comprise nearly a third of the overall uninsured population.  Most provisions in health reform do not specifically target young adults, but because of their high uninsured rate they will be one of the groups that is most affected by the new law. This paper explains the key ways in…

  • The New Challenge of the Uninsured: Coverage in the Current Economy

    Event Date:
    Event

    Diane Rowland, executive director of the Commission, testified to the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health about health coverage for the uninsured in the current economy and discussed the special challenges of providing them coverage during uncertain economic times. Please note: the video is no longer available. If you have an urgent need for the video, you may contact us (choose “problem with video” on the form) and we will try to locate the…

  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — August 2009

    Poll Finding

    The August Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds a slim majority of Americans continues to favor moving forward on health care reform now despite an intensifying ad war and a political climate of contentious town hall meetings that coincide with rising concerns about the reform effort. Fifty-three percent of the public believes that tackling health reform is more important than ever, compared to 42 percent who say we cannot afford to take on health care reform…