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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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  • Pulling it Together: Business and Health Care Costs

    Perspective

    Hidden away on page 218 of our annual Employer Health Benefits Survey is a table that shows what employers think of the main strategies they have to control health care costs.  More specifically, the table shows what the person in the firm responsible for its health benefits thinks, which is whom we survey.  The short answer is, employer confidence in their own ability to control costs is not high. Not more than about a quarter…

  • Medicare: Options for Reform, A Public Dialogue on Health Care: The Future of Medicare

    Report

    A public education brochure describing Medicare reform options that are being considered by Congress. This fact sheet is also a part of a packet of information as part of a joint public information project between Kaiser Family Foundation and League of Women Voters of public meetings held across the United States in October 1998 (#1427, available in print). Report Report

  • Two National Surveys: Views of Americans and Health Care Providers on Medical Abortion

    Other Post

    Will 1999 Be The Year For Mifepristone (RU-486)?And, An Update on Women's Other Options for Very Early Abortion September 16, 1998 Briefing Participants: Janet Benshoof PresidentCenter for Reproductive Law & Policy120 Wall Street, 18th FloorNew York, NY 10005Press Contact: Margie Kelly212/514-5534 Jacqueline E. Darroch, PhDSenior Vice PresidentThe Alan Guttmacher Institute120 Wall StreetNew York, NY 10005 Vanessa Northington Gamble, MD, PhDAssociate ProfessorHistory of Medicine and Family Medicine, and DirectorCenter for the Study of Race and Ethnicity…

  • Native Americans and Medicaid: Coverage and Financing Issues

    Report

    Medicaid plays several different roles of significance to Native Americans. Through its purchase of managed care products, Medicaid is reshaping the health care delivery system for many Native Americans and other underserved low-income populations. Medicaid also assists low-income elderly and disabled Indians who are eligible for Medicare in meeting their premium and cost-sharing obligations. Finally, Medicaid offers coverage for nursing home care and other long-term care services needed by frail elderly and disabled Native Americans.…

  • Child Health Facts:  National and State Profiles of Coverage

    Other Post

    Child Health Facts: National and State Profiles of Coverage Appendix 2 Medicaid Enhanced Matching Rate Matching Rate Alabama 69.3% 78.5% Alaska 59.8% 71.9% Arizona 65.3% 75.7% Arkansas 72.8% 81.0% California 51.2% 65.9% Colorado 52.0% 66.4% Connecticut 50.0% 65.0% Delaware 50.0% 65.0% District of Columbia 70.0% 79.0% Florida 55.7% 69.0% Georgia 60.8% 72.6% Hawaii 50.0% 65.0% Idaho 69.6% 78.7% Illinois 50.0% 65.0% Indiana 61.4% 73.0% Iowa 63.8% 74.6% Kansas 59.7% 71.8% Kentucky 70.4% 79.3% Louisiana 70.0%…

  • Key Findings: Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — February 2009

    Poll Finding

    This document contains the key findings from the February 2009 Kaiser Health Tracking Poll. The survey was conducted February 3 through February 12, 2009, among a nationally representative random sample of 1,204 adults ages 18 and older. Telephone interviews conducted by landline (903) and cell phone (301, including 123 who had no landline telephone) were carried out in English and Spanish. The margin of sampling error for the total sample is plus or minus 3…

  • CHIP TIPS: Medicaid Performance Bonus “5 of 8” Requirements

    Issue Brief

    This brief, the second in a series, examines the requirements that states must meet to be eligible for the new "performance bonus" available to states that do an especially good job of signing up eligible children for Medicaid. The bonus, created by a provision in the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009, is designed to help states cover the added costs that result when states are very successful in enrolling eligible children in…

  • Medicaid Spending Growth and the Great Recession, 2007-2009

    Fact Sheet

    This fact sheet examines how the recent recession drove up Medicaid enrollment as millions of Americans lost jobs and income, and how that increase in enrollment has been the primary cause of the increase in overall Medicaid spending. Fact Sheet (.pdf)

  • Pulling It Together: Medicare, Medicaid, and The Multiplier Effect

    Perspective

    We are witnessing a battle in Washington right now about the future of health care’s two big public programs, Medicare and Medicaid. It’s a budget battle, it’s an ideological battle, it’s a partisan political battle, and while it might not always be obvious following the debate, it’s a high stakes battle for people. In 2011, over a hundred million low-income, disabled, and elderly beneficiaries will be served by the two programs. Many of the proposals…