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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.

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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  • Spending To Survive: Cancer Patients Confront Holes in the Health Insurance System

    Event Date:
    Event

    This report highlights the severe challenges cancer patient may face in paying for life-saving care even when they have private health insurance. Jointly authored by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the American Cancer Society, the report profiles 20 patients and illustrates the potential difficulties people diagnosed with cancer or other serious illnesses have in maintaining affordable health insurance and paying for their health care. The patients in the report and accompanying video were selected to…

  • Pulling it Together from Drew Altman: Multiple Agendas for Controlling Health Care Costs

    Perspective

    In what would be a domestic policy trifecta, we may be headed for interconnected big debates about economic recovery, entitlement programs and health reform. A core issue in the entitlement and health reform debates is the problem of rising health care costs. President Obama, now apparently fully briefed on the economic, budget and health reform realities he faces, is talking conspicuously about hard choices that may lie ahead. In a short period of time the…

  • Reports and Other Resources on Trends in Children’s Health Coverage

    Event Date:
    Event

    With Congress poised to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) with a substantial increase in its federal funding, there are potentially new opportunities for reducing the estimated 9 million uninsured children nationwide. At the same time, the nation’s weak economy and growing unemployment is resulting in fewer families and children covered by employer-sponsored coverage. Against that backdrop, the Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) released a package of new…

  • Next Steps in Covering Uninsured Children: Findings from the Kaiser Survey of Children’s Health Coverage

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief provides key findings from the Kaiser Survey of Children's Health Coverage, including that many low- and middle-income working families with an uninsured child do not have access to employer-sponsored health insurance. The telephone survey of parents that was conducted in 2007 to learn more about children’s access to coverage and care and the health care cost-related pressures facing their families. Issue Brief (.pdf)

  • Covering Uninsured Children: Reaching and Enrolling Citizen Children With Non-Citizen Parents

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief examines health insurance coverage for low-income citizen children whose parents are not citizens and some of the specific barriers to enrolling these children in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. It is based on findings from the Kaiser Survey of Children's Health Coverage, a telephone survey of parents conducted in 2007 to learn more about children’s access to coverage and care and the health care cost-related pressures facing their families.…

  • Enrolling Uninsured Low-Income Children in Medicaid & SCHIP

    Fact Sheet

    This fact sheet outlines issues in outreach and enrollment for Medicaid and SCHIP. It provides a profile of eligible but uninsured children, discusses the greatest barriers to enrollment, and offers strategies to improve enrollment. Fact Sheet (.pdf)

  • Challenges of Providing Health Coverage for Children and Parents in a Recession: A 50 State Update on Eligibility Rules, Enrollment and Renewal Procedures, and Cost-Sharing Practices in Medicaid and SCHIP in 2009

    Report

    Overall, more than one-third of the states (19 states) took steps last year to increase access to health coverage for low-income children, pregnant women and parents –- including 15 states that authorized or implemented coverage expansions. At the same time, 10 states enacted at least one measure to restrict access. The report also examines trends in parental coverage and state outreach efforts, including the use of technology to facilitate enrollment. Full Report (.pdf) Data Tables…

  • Cost Sharing for Health Care: France, Germany, and Switzerland

    Issue Brief

    As policymakers in the United States weigh options for reform to the nation’s health care system, the level of cost sharing that consumers face when they receive services covered by their health plans is a major consideration, especially for those with serious health conditions. This background brief authored by Kaiser Family Foundation researchers examines how three European countries – France, Germany, and Switzerland – have dealt with cost sharing in their health systems. While cost…

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

    Poll Finding

    Toplines -- The Public's Health Care Agenda for the New President and Congress This document contains the detailed toplines from The Public's Health Care Agenda for the New President and Congress poll. The poll involved a nationally representative random sample of 1,628 adults ages 18 and older who were interviewed by telephone between December 4 and 14, 2008. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points. For…