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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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  • Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Access to Health Insurance and Health Care

    Fact Sheet

    Racial and ethnic groups in the United States continue to experience major differences in health status compared to the majority white population. Although many factors affect health status, the lack of health insurance and other barriers to obtaining health services markedly diminish minorities' use of both preventive services and medical treatments. This report, produced in collaboration with the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, examines health insurance coverage and access to physician services among African…

  • Subsidizing COBRA: An Option for Expanding Health Insurance Coverage

    Report

    This paper examines a method for making health insurance more affordable to people who may lose health insurance when they lose or change jobs. A proposal for subsidizing the purchase of group health insurance through COBRA for employees and their dependents who lose their health insurance coverage when the employee leaves a job that provides such coverage. This paper is part of the Kaise Incremental Health Reform Project. Issue Paper

  • Comparison of Medi-Cal and Healthy Families Programs for Children in California

    Report

    A new side-by-side examination of California's Medicaid program (Medi-Cal) and CHIP program (Healthy Families) shows how these two low-income health coverage programs differ in structure, eligibility, enrollment process, service delivery and scope. This California case study helps to illustrate differences between Medicaid and CHIP. SIDE-BY-SIDE Download

  • Issues Facing Medicaid and CHIP

    Event Date:
    Event

    Cindy Mann, senior fellow of the Commission, testified to the Senate Subcommittee on Public Health of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on how to sustain and expand health care coverage for low-income children and families, and disabled and elderly people in these challenging times. TESTIMONY Download

  • A Medicare Buy-In for the Near Elderly: Design Issues and Potential Effects on Coverage

    Report

    This report examines a Medicare-based approach to reducing the ranks of the uninsured that would permit early retirees between the ages of 62 and 65 to purchase coverage under Medicare. The paper begins with an overview of the challenges of insuring the near-elderly and explores the potential effects of a Medicare buy-in on coverage of this population. The authors conclude that, unless premiums for such coverage were low or tied to enrollees' income, this approach…

  • The Medicare Program: Servicios De Salud Administrados Por Medicare

    Fact Sheet

    Panorama General: Medicare proporciona servicios de salud a casi 39 millones de norteamericanos, incluyendo aproximadamente a 34 millones de ancianos y a 5 millones de discapacitados. La gran mayoria de estas personas cubren sus gastos medicos directamente mediante el programa tradicional de "pago por servicio," mientras que el 15 porciento restante (mas de 5 millone de beneficiarios) estan cubiertos bajo algun plan de servicio medico contratado con Medicare, principalmente las organizaciones de administracion de la…

  • 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…

  • 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