Uninsured

New and noteworthy

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

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  • The Affordable Care Act in California: Briefing and Panel Discussion

    Event Date:
    Event

    In the first of many events to highlight Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation in the states and on the front lines across the country, the Kaiser Family Foundation partnered with the Blue Shield of California Foundation to examine ACA implementation in California (CA) at a Washington, D.C., briefing and panel discussion on February 19, 2014. State and county officials, experts and advocates discussed the latest developments and lessons learned about the ACA implementation in California, a…

  • Visualizing Health Policy: Health Coverage Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA)

    Report

    Related Resources Study Highlights Role of Geography and Plan Shopping Under Medicare Premium Support System Medicare Part D: A First Look at Part D Plan Offerings in 2013 The Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit - An Updated Fact Sheet Online Consumer Guide to Medicare   The latest Visualizing Health Policy infographic is a flowchart illustrating the mechanisms by which people will get health coverage beginning in 2014. Medicare's Role and Future Challenges << Previous Visualizing Health…

  • Faces of the Medicaid Expansion: How Obtaining Medicaid Coverage Impacts Low-Income Adults

    Report

    The Affordable Care Act (ACA) seeks to fill the longstanding gap in Medicaid coverage for low-income adults by expanding eligibility to a minimum floor of 138% of the federal poverty level (FPL), or $24,344 for a family of 3 in 2012. However, the Supreme Court ruling on the ACA effectively made implementation of the Medicaid expansion a state choice. If a state does not expand Medicaid, poor uninsured adults in that state will not gain…

  • New Report Provides State-Level Data on Coverage Gains and Costs of the Medicaid Expansion in Health Reform

    News Release

    Analysis Projects Steep Decreases in Uninsured, With Federal Government Covering Vast Majority of CostsWASHINGTON -- The expansion of Medicaid under the new health reform law will significantly increase the number of people covered by the program and markedly reduce the uninsured in states across the country, with the federal government picking up the overwhelming majority of the cost, according to a state-by-state analysis released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU).…

  • Assessing Tax Subsidies to Cover the Uninsured

    Other Post

    Tax Reform to Expand Health Coverage: Administrative Issues and ChallengesPrepared for the Kaiser Family Foundation by Jack Meyer of the Economic and Social Research Institute, this report analyzes the administrative and implementation issues associated with expanding tax subsidies for the purchase of private health insurance. Recent Tax Proposals to Increase Health Insurance CoverageThis report, written by Deloitte & Touche LLP, includes a side-by-side analysis of recent tax proposals by Members of Congress and various health…

  • Ensuring Linguistic Access in Health Care Settings: An Overview of Current Legal Rights and Responsibilities

    Report

    In order to ensure access to care for limited English proficient residents, there are a number of federal and state laws and policies that compel publicly funded health care programs and activities to provide language access. This report focuses on the language access responsibilities of health care and coverage providers pursuant to federal civil rights laws. Report (.pdf)

  • Topline: Kaiser Health Tracking Poll – June 2009

    Poll Finding

    This document contains the toplines from the June Health Tracking Poll. The survey was designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and was conducted June 1 through June 8, 2009, among a nationally representative random sample of 1,205 adults ages 18 and older. Telephone interviews conducted by landline (804) and cell phone (401, including 157 who had no landline telephone) were carried out in English and Spanish. The margin of…

  • Chartpack: Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — July 2009

    Poll Finding

    This document contains the chartpack from the July Health Tracking Poll. The survey was designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and was conducted July 7 through July 14, 2009, among a nationally representative random sample of 1,205 adults ages 18 and older. Telephone interviews conducted by landline (800) and cell phone (405, including 126 who had no landline telephone) were carried out in English and Spanish. The margin of…

  • How 13 Million Americans Could Lose Insurance Subsidies

    From Drew Altman

    This was published as a Wall Street Journal Think Tank column on November 19, 2014. Kaiser Family Foundation calculations of how many Americans could lose subsidies in 2016 depending on the Supreme Court’s ruling in King v. Burwell. The Supreme Court is expected to rule next year on King v. Burwell, the lawsuit in which the federal government’s authority to provide financial assistance to people who buy insurance in federally operated insurance exchanges is being challenged under a…