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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.

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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  • Eliminating the ACA: What Could It Mean for Medicaid Expansion?

    Policy Watch

    The debate over filling the Supreme Court seat previously held by Ruth Bader Ginsburg has brought renewed attention to the possibility of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) being overturned under the court challenge in California v. Texas, currently scheduled to be heard shortly after the election this November. The expansion of Medicaid was a central component of the ACA, and 39 states have now adopted the ACA expansion into their Medicaid programs. Because Medicaid is…

  • A Court Ruling Striking Down the ACA Would Eliminate the Medicaid Expansion and Cause Millions of Low-Income People to Become Uninsured

    News Release

    Millions of low-income Americans currently covered by Medicaid likely would become uninsured if the Supreme Court were to strike down the Affordable Care Act in California v. Texas, a legal challenge the high court is scheduled to hear in early November, KFF experts explain in a new Policy Watch post. Overturning the ACA would eliminate the expansion of Medicaid, which largely has been financed by the federal government, and eliminate eligibility for Medicaid for low-income…

  • Health Care and the 2020 Presidential Election

    Feature

    This side-by-side comparison examines President Trump’s record and former Vice President Biden’s positions across a wide range of key health issues, including the response to the pandemic, the Affordable Care Act marketplace, Medicaid, Medicare, drug prices, reproductive health, mental health and opioids, immigration and health coverage, and health care costs.

  • What We Do and Don’t Know About Recent Trends in Health Insurance Coverage in the US

    Policy Watch

    The release of the Census Bureau’s annual health insurance estimates for 2019 highlighted the challenges posed by the lag in data on insurance coverage given the unprecedented social and economic changes that have occurred since the 2019 data were collected. This post discusses trends in insurance coverage leading up to the start of the pandemic and what we know about more recent changes in coverage.

  • Hispanic People are Facing Widening Gaps in Health Coverage

    Policy Watch

    New analysis shows that, in 2019, the number of uninsured continued to increase for the third year in a row. Much of the coverage loss between 2018 and 2019 was among Hispanic people, and these data point to significant increased barriers to health care for Hispanic people.

  • Impact of Coronavirus on Community Health Centers

    Issue Brief

    Community health centers are a national network of safety net primary care providers that fill an important role in national, state, and local responses to the coronavirus pandemic. This brief presents findings from new data that provide insights into how health centers are adapting their services in response to the pandemic and how coronavirus is affecting their operations and long-term financial outlook with patient visits and revenue from those visits dropping precipitously.

  • 4.7 Million Uninsured Adults Could Become Eligible for Medicaid by 2021 if All Remaining States Expanded the Program under the ACA

    News Release

    About 4.7 million uninsured adults could gain eligibility for Medicaid by 2021 if the 14 remaining non-expansion states were to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, a new KFF analysis finds. That figure includes an estimated 2.8 million adults who already were uninsured prior to the coronavirus pandemic and would fall in the “coverage gap” – meaning they have incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid but too low for ACA marketplace subsidies –…