Tally of Uninsured Fell by 3.8 Million in Early 2014
Sep 16, 2014 10:44:27 #
Tally of Uninsured Fell by 3.8 Million in Early 2014
http://online.wsj.com/articles/tally-of-uninsured-fell-by-3-8-million-in-early-2014-1410840199
The number of uninsured in America dropped by 3.8 million in early 2014, new federal figures show, in the first government analysis of how the Affordable Care Act has changed U.S. insurance-coverage rates.
The percentage of people without health insurance went from an average of 14.4% in 2013 to 13.1% over the first three months of 2014, when most of the law was rolled out, according to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics to be released Tuesday.
Shortcomings in the data are likely to limit the conclusions that either supporters or critics of the law can draw from it. The survey, based on interview responses for 27,627 people, was carried out from the beginning of January through the end of March, which is when enrollment ended for most consumers. Responses from earlier in the period wouldn't reflect the late surge in enrollment under the law, potentially making the tally of people who gained coverage artificially low.
The survey's findings indicated that around 3.7 million people surveyed between January and March said that they had obtained private coverage through the online exchanges run by states and the federal government.
Related
Missed Deadline to Cost Coverage for Thousands
"Almost half of the people who signed up during open enrollment did so in March, but they didn't actually get insured until April or May," said Larry Levitt, an expert on the health law at the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. "There was a similar surge in Medicaid enrollment," he said.
The Obama administration announced in mid-April that the number of people who had bought coverage through the exchanges had surpassed 8 million. Republican critics of the law have contended that the number is meaningless without knowing what proportion of those people gained coverage after previously being uninsured. The Department of Health and Human Services isn't tracking that, and the CDC's report didn't directly address that either.
The government findings mirror some other external studies, such as a Gallup poll that found the uninsured rate fell to 13.4% in the second quarter of 2014, after peaking at an average of 18% in the months immediately before the exchanges opened.
For the period captured by the survey, the share of people with private insurance ticked up from 59.5% in 2013 to 60.5% over the first quarter of 2014.
People wait in line to sign up for health insurance at an enrollment event in Commerce, California, on March 31, 2014. Reuters
There were no significant changes between 2013 and early 2014 in the proportion of respondents with public coverage, including the Medicaid federal-state program for low-income people, the survey found.
Other indicators from the federal government have suggested that there are at least 7 million more people in that program than were on its rolls immediately before 2014. It wasn't immediately clear why some of that uptick wasn't apparent in the CDC findings.
In all, the uninsured rate captured by the survey suggests 41 million people in the U.S. lacked insurance coverage as of the first quarter of 2014.
"This is the beginning of our analysis," said Robin Cohen, one of the authors of the report, who said that a report covering a greater share of 2014 would be published in December.
The study also captures some of the other changes sweeping through the American health-care system, fueled at least in part by the health law.
It shows, for example, that the share of the population with high-deductible insurance plans has grown significantly since 2009. That year, around 22.5% of respondents had private coverage that required them to pay a larger share of their upfront coverage costs in exchange for a lower premium. In early 2014, some 36% had plans with an annual deductible of at least $1,250 for an individual or $2,500 for a family.
The Census Bureau is set to publish data showing 2013 insurance-coverage rates later on Tuesday. That survey became mired in contention earlier this year after it emerged that the study's format was changing, making it difficult to compare numbers from the period before the law was implemented with numbers for 2014.
Write to Louise Radnofsky at louise.radnofsky@wsj.com
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-16/uninsured-rate-fell-after-obamacare-u-s-report-confirms.html
http://online.wsj.com/articles/tally-of-uninsured-fell-by-3-8-million-in-early-2014-1410840199
The number of uninsured in America dropped by 3.8 million in early 2014, new federal figures show, in the first government analysis of how the Affordable Care Act has changed U.S. insurance-coverage rates.
The percentage of people without health insurance went from an average of 14.4% in 2013 to 13.1% over the first three months of 2014, when most of the law was rolled out, according to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics to be released Tuesday.
Shortcomings in the data are likely to limit the conclusions that either supporters or critics of the law can draw from it. The survey, based on interview responses for 27,627 people, was carried out from the beginning of January through the end of March, which is when enrollment ended for most consumers. Responses from earlier in the period wouldn't reflect the late surge in enrollment under the law, potentially making the tally of people who gained coverage artificially low.
The survey's findings indicated that around 3.7 million people surveyed between January and March said that they had obtained private coverage through the online exchanges run by states and the federal government.
Related
Missed Deadline to Cost Coverage for Thousands
"Almost half of the people who signed up during open enrollment did so in March, but they didn't actually get insured until April or May," said Larry Levitt, an expert on the health law at the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. "There was a similar surge in Medicaid enrollment," he said.
The Obama administration announced in mid-April that the number of people who had bought coverage through the exchanges had surpassed 8 million. Republican critics of the law have contended that the number is meaningless without knowing what proportion of those people gained coverage after previously being uninsured. The Department of Health and Human Services isn't tracking that, and the CDC's report didn't directly address that either.
The government findings mirror some other external studies, such as a Gallup poll that found the uninsured rate fell to 13.4% in the second quarter of 2014, after peaking at an average of 18% in the months immediately before the exchanges opened.
For the period captured by the survey, the share of people with private insurance ticked up from 59.5% in 2013 to 60.5% over the first quarter of 2014.
People wait in line to sign up for health insurance at an enrollment event in Commerce, California, on March 31, 2014. Reuters
There were no significant changes between 2013 and early 2014 in the proportion of respondents with public coverage, including the Medicaid federal-state program for low-income people, the survey found.
Other indicators from the federal government have suggested that there are at least 7 million more people in that program than were on its rolls immediately before 2014. It wasn't immediately clear why some of that uptick wasn't apparent in the CDC findings.
In all, the uninsured rate captured by the survey suggests 41 million people in the U.S. lacked insurance coverage as of the first quarter of 2014.
"This is the beginning of our analysis," said Robin Cohen, one of the authors of the report, who said that a report covering a greater share of 2014 would be published in December.
The study also captures some of the other changes sweeping through the American health-care system, fueled at least in part by the health law.
It shows, for example, that the share of the population with high-deductible insurance plans has grown significantly since 2009. That year, around 22.5% of respondents had private coverage that required them to pay a larger share of their upfront coverage costs in exchange for a lower premium. In early 2014, some 36% had plans with an annual deductible of at least $1,250 for an individual or $2,500 for a family.
The Census Bureau is set to publish data showing 2013 insurance-coverage rates later on Tuesday. That survey became mired in contention earlier this year after it emerged that the study's format was changing, making it difficult to compare numbers from the period before the law was implemented with numbers for 2014.
Write to Louise Radnofsky at louise.radnofsky@wsj.com
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-16/uninsured-rate-fell-after-obamacare-u-s-report-confirms.html
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