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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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  • Medicare and Prescription Drug Focus Groups

    Report

    Summary Report This report, : Summary Report, produced jointly by the bipartisan team of Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies and Geoff Garin of Peter D. Hart Research Associates, presents key findings from a series of eight focus groups on the Medicare program and the current debate over prescription drug coverage and Medicare reform. These groups, conducted in four cities with both elderly and non-elderly participants in June 2001, explored attitudes about Medicare and how…

  • Medicaid Support for Family Planning in the Managed Care Era

    Report

    As the largest source of public funding for contraceptive care in the United States, Medicaid plays a crucial role in financing family planning services and supplies for millions of low-income women across the nation. In the past 15 years, managed care has become the primary way of delivering care to children and adults on Medicaid, a development which has had significant implications for how family planning services are financed, organized and delivered under Medicaid. This…

  • New Incentive for States to Adopt the ACA Medicaid Expansion: Implications for State Spending

    Issue Brief

    The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 encourages non-expansion states to take up the expansion by providing an additional temporary fiscal incentive for states to newly implement the ACA Medicaid expansion. This brief provides illustrative estimates of the net fiscal benefit to states from these incentives relative to state costs under the expansion.

  • Toplines: Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — November 2009

    Poll Finding

    This document contains the toplines from the November Health Tracking Poll. The survey was designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and was conducted November 5 through November 12, 2009, among a nationally representative random sample of 1,203 adults ages 18 and older. Telephone interviews conducted by landline (802) and cell phone (401, including 112 who had no landline telephone) were carried out in English and Spanish. The margin of…

  • Physician Willingness and Resources to Serve More Medicaid Patients: Perspectives from Primary Care Physicians

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief attempts to assess how primary care physicians will respond to the entry of 32 million newly insured people into the health care system under health reform. The increase in the number of people with health coverage is expected to intensify competition among patients and payers for primary care resources. The brief analyzes data from a nationally representative survey of physicians to assess which adult-care primary care physicians are most likely to respond…

  • Health Coverage for Latino Children:  Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program

    Other Post

    Health Coverage for Latino Children: Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program An overview of Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and health care coverage for Latino Children. This issue brief was released at a briefing for Hispanic and Latino Media in Los Angeles, CA on June 24, 1999. The briefing is part of a series, Latino Voices for Latino Health: Three Cities, One Vision that is jointly coordinated by the Kaiser Family Foundation…

  • Women’s Health Data Book: A Profile of Women’s Health in the United States

    Fact Sheet

    The Women's Health Data Book: A Profile of Women's Health in the United States, offers the latest data and trends on the wide range of health issues that affect women across their life spans. Published by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health, the Data Book is edited by Dawn Misra, Ph.D. This book addresses social and economic factors and provides up-to-date information on chronic conditions, reproductive health, mental health, violence,…