Kansas sees over 2 percent decrease in its uninsured rate

A poll by Latino Decisions found large drops in the uninsured rate for Hispanics in New Mexico-from 23 percent in 2013 to 8 percent in 2014. A recent government survey that includes data from the first three months of this year shows that the uninsured rate continued to fall in 2015. Lower-income households – in particular, those earning less than $50,000 per year – saw the largest percentage decreases in people lacking health insurance. Meanwhile, almost one in five Texans still remain uninsured – Texas is one of 20 Republican-led states that have refused to expand the federal Medicaid program. Put another way, 8.8 million more people were insured in 2014 than the year before.

The Census numbers released today confirm that millions of people are working at jobs and still living in poverty. The share of the population uninsured the whole year was 10.4 percent, or 33 million people.

This number is significant because it is the first Census Bureau report since the widespread implementation of the Affordable Care Act, said a health economist at Washington University in St. Louis.

There’s “no mystery there” about the drop in the uninsured, said Michael Zweig, an economics professor at Stony Brook University.

The report highlights the role of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) – President Obama’s signature health care reform law – in explaining the changing rate of those who don’t have health insurance.

But the data did show a big change in Americans without health insurance.

The median household income in the Los Angeles metropolitan area was $60,514 a year ago , up from $59,790 and above the USA median of $53,657.

The latest drop is down even further from the 16 percent of the population, or more than 1million people, who were without insurance in 2012, before the law that requires people to obtain insurance or pay fines took effect.

Grace Jones is the executive director of Couleecap, a southwest Wisconsin nonprofit that works with low-income people. “And I think every year we will continue to see our uninsured rate decline, just as Massachusetts did”, says Benjamin.

The biggest changes in coverage rates between 2013 and 2014 were the increases in direct-purchase health insurance (increased 3.2%) and Medicaid (increased 2%).