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New and noteworthy

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.

State Health Facts: Health Coverage & the Uninsured

Get data on health insurance status for the population overall and broken down by age, gender, and income. More than 800 up-to-date health indicators at the state level can be mapped, ranked, and downloaded through State Health Facts.

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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  • How Will Uninsured Childless Adults Be Affected By Health Reform?

    Issue Brief

    This brief examines uninsured childless adults and how they could be affected by health reform, including estimates of how many might qualify for coverage under a Medicaid expansion, how many would be eligible for subsidies and how many would not be eligible for such help. Issue Brief (.pdf)

  • Targeting Medicare Drug Benefits: Costs and Issues

    Report

    This report, written by Marilyn Moon and Matthew Storeygard of the Urban Institute, estimates the potential cost of targeting drug benefits to low-income Medicare beneficiaries and those with catastrophic drug expenses and discusses some of the key programmatic issues that could arise under this approach. The authors predict that a targeted and comprehensive drug benefit would likely help more than half of the 11.3 million low-income beneficiaries who lack drug coverage through Medicaid or an…

  • Talking with Voters About the Uninsured

    Report

    Ten focus groups were conducted with voters April through July 2001, prior to the tragedies of September 11th and broad public recognition of an economic slowdown. The report, Effective Language and Themes for Talking About the Uninsured, finds that at that time: voters were still surprised by basic facts about the uninsured; voters seemed ready for messages about the uninsured that focus on the health and financial consequences of being uninsured, especially those centered on…

  • 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).

  • New Survey Finds 68 Percent of Previously Uninsured Adult Californians Gained Coverage Since the ACA’s Implementation

    News Release

    Steep Drops in Problems Paying For and Getting Care among Recently Insured, But Affordability and Access Problems Remain Eligible Latinos Obtained Coverage at Similar Rates as Whites; People Ineligible Due to Immigration Status Now Make Up 41% of Remaining Uninsured   MENLO PARK, Calif. - About two thirds (68%) of previously uninsured Californians have health coverage after the Affordable Care Act's second open enrollment period, and this group is now much more likely to report…