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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.

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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  • Putting Express Lane Eligibility into Practice

    Report

    A new report details how the practice of express lane eligibility, or utilizing information from other public benefit programs, can quicken the enrollment of low-income children into the Medicaid and CHIP programs. REPORT Download

  • Managed Care for Low-Income Populations with Special Needs: The Oregon Experience

    Report

    This report focuses on Oregon's experience in moving their disabled Medicaid beneficiaries into managed care. It is one of a series of reports from The Kaiser/Commonwealth Low-Income Coverage and Access Project. This project examines how changes in the Medicaid program have affected health insurance coverage and access to care for hte low-income population in eight states: California, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas. Report

  • Health Affairs Article: Medicaid Expansion: Chronically Homeless Adults Will Need Targeted Enrollment and Access to a Broad Range of Services

    Issue Brief

    Homeless adults may gain access to health services under the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, which takes effect in 2014. This study, published in Health Affairs, analyzed the health coverage, health status, and health services use of 725 chronically homeless adults with disabilities in eleven cities in the United States.

  • Medicaid and Community Health Centers: The Relationship Between Coverage for Adults and Primary Care Capacity in Medically Underserved Communities

    Issue Brief

    Community health centers play an important role in providing care to uninsured and low-income individuals living in medically underserved communities. They rely on many different revenue sources and, over time, Medicaid has become a central source of funding for most health centers. To better understand how Medicaid influences health center practice, this paper compares the strength of health centers in states that have expanded Medicaid coverage for adults to health centers states with more limited…

  • Using Data and Technology to Drive Process Improvement in Medicaid and CHIP: Lessons From South Carolina

    Fact Sheet

    In the past year, there has been a notable trend of states increasingly utilizing data and technology to modernize, streamline, and gain efficiencies in their Medicaid and CHIP programs. The expanded use of data and technology is not only helping states deal with current budget pressures and decreased administrative resources, but also lays important groundwork for the coverage expansions and new coordinated, streamlined, and technology-driven enrollment process that will go into effect in 2014 under…

  • 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…

  • New NPR/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard Kennedy School of Government Survey on Health Care

    Poll Finding

    A new survey by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard s Kennedy School of Government finds that many Americans have real problems when it comes to accessing and paying for health care, and even if they haven't yet faced a problem, many worry about getting and paying for care in the future. The survey also shows that, while people think helping seniors with the cost of prescription drugs should be a priority, most seniors…

  • 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…

  • Universal Coverage May Not Mean Everyone Has Health Insurance

    From Drew Altman

    Universal coverage is a big and important goal. But would absolutely everyone be covered under current proposals? Is it a better rallying cry for Democrats in the primaries or the general election? Drew Altman analyzes these questions in an Axios column.

  • The New Health Care Agenda: Gridlock, Lots of Hearings

    From Drew Altman

    In an Axios column, Drew Altman analyzes what the midterm election means for the health policy agenda between now and 2020--mostly political positioning and gridlock in Congress, with most of the action affecting people in the states.