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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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  • Options for Expanding Health Insurance Coverage: Report on a Policy Roundtable

    Report

    This paper is a summary of a 1999 policy conference, The Kaiser Incremental Health Reform Project, which highlighted both the policy and politics of incrementalism. This paper identifies issues and tradeoffs associated with alternative approaches to expanding health insurance coverage-including enactment and implementation of CHIP and further coverage expansions through public programs and tax credits for the purchase of private health insurance. ISSUE BRIEF Download

  • The Kaiser Project on Incremental Health Reform

    Other Post

    In November 1996, the Kaiser Family Foundation initiated a project to examine different strategies for expanding health insurance coverage to America's growing uninsured population. The Foundation asked two leading health policy experts with experience in Democratic and Republican leadership roles, Judith Feder and Sheila Burke, to direct the project's work in considering and evaluating the potential for, and likely impact of, alternative incremental reform options. This continuing effort has made important contributions to the public…

  • Post-Election Survey: The Public and the Health Care Agenda for the New Administration and Congress

    Poll Finding

    This Kaiser Family Foundation-Harvard School of Public Health survey, conducted immediately after the 2000 Presidential election, finds that health care issues ranked near the top of voters priorities for spending the surplus. Medicare ranked among the top three priorities, along with education and Social Security, and ahead of paying off the national debt and cutting taxes. Education ranked first. The survey also found that voters support patients rights legislation and some action to help the…

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    Other Post

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  • Retiree Health Trends and Implications of Possible Medicare Reforms – Report

    Report

    Retiree Health Trends and Implications of Possible Medicare Reforms Prepared by: Hewitt Associates LLC Prepared for: Kaiser Medicare Policy Project September 1997 Preparation of this report was supported by The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Grant Number 96-1710B. The study consists of a review and analysis of recent trends in the provision of employer-sponsored health benefits to retirees, as well as an assessment of potential changes to employer-sponsored retiree health plans in the future, including…

  • Key Facts: States Most Affected by Hurricane Katrina

    Fact Sheet

    Key Facts: States Most Affected by Hurricane Katrina A side-by-side comparison of key demographics and health coverage statistics of the states most affected by Hurricane Katrina. Fact Sheet (.pdf)

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

    Poll Finding

    Chartpack -- The Public's Health Care Agenda for the New President and Congress This chartpack provides the key findings from the survey of 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…

  • Medicaid’s Role for Hispanic Americans

    Fact Sheet

    This fact sheet examines Medicaid's role for Hispanic Americans. It includes data on Medicaid's coverage of Hispanic Americans and the program's impact on their access to care, as well as the impacts of the recent recession and the coming expansion of Medicaid under health reform on enrollment in Medicaid among Hispanic Americans. The fact sheet also has a chart showing state-by-state data on health insurance coverage of Hispanic Americans. Fact Sheet (.pdf)

  • New Publications on Immigrant Health Care and Linguistic Access

    Fact Sheet

    In 2000, there were over 32 million foreign-born residents in the U.S. Immigrants often face barriers to health coverage and health services. The disparities confronting immigrants can be similar to those faced by low-income working families generally, but immigrants also face other barriers, including linguistic issues and eligibility changes that have limited their ability to qualify for Medicaid. These new or updated publications address issues related to how race, immigration status, and language affect insurance…

  • Report: Giving Voice to the People of New Orleans: The Kaiser Post-Katrina Baseline Survey

    Poll Finding

    This May 2007 Kaiser Family Foundation report is the first of several that will track the progress and challenges facing people living in the New Orleans area in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. To conduct the study, a team of 41 interviewers visited 456 randomly selected census areas, documented the physical condition of nearly 17,000 housing locations and completed interviews with 1,504 randomly chosen adults living in the four parishes between September and November 2006.…