The uninsured rate has fallen to 11.9 percent, the lowest it has been since
Gallup began surveying on insurance in 2008. It's down from a peak of 18 percent in 2013, just before Obamacare was fully implemented.
While the uninsured rate has declined across all key demographic groups since the healthcare law fully took effect in January 2014, it has dropped most among lower-income Americans and Hispanics—the groups most likely to lack insurance. The uninsured rate among Americans earning less than $36,000 in annual household income dropped 8.7 points since the end of 2013, while the rate among Hispanics fell 8.3 points. The significant drop in uninsured Hispanics is a key accomplishment for the Obama administration, which led targeted efforts to insure this group as they had the highest uninsured population of all key subgroups. However, despite the gains in insurance coverage among Hispanics and lower-income Americans, these groups still have higher uninsured rates than other key subgroups.
Americans aged 26 to 34 have also seen gains in coverage since the healthcare law went into effect—the uninsured rate among this group is down 7.4 points since the end of 2013, the largest drop among any age group. Blacks have also seen a substantial drop in their uninsured rate since the fourth quarter of 2013–7.3 points.
This drop in the uninsured rate is due primarily to Obamacare, Gallup says, and not increased employment since the recession. That's because the rate now is lower than in early 2008, before the economy tanked. Since the end of 2014, the rate of 18- to 64-year-olds who are self-insured—buying on federal or state exchanges—increased from 17.6 percent to 21.1. More enrollments are likely because the administration and many states have extended deadlines for people just finding out about the individual mandate when they file taxes—this is the first year the law affects taxes. Medicaid enrollment has increased from 6.9 percent in 2013 to 9 percent now. Since enrollment in the program is year-round, and some states are still attempting to work out an expansion plan, those enrollments will likely increase as well.
Much of this, of course, could be reversed if the Supreme Court decides that people in states using the federal insurance exchange should lose their subsidies. About 87 percent of people buying health insurance on the exchanges get those subsidies and can only afford insurance with them. Something like 8.2 million people in 34 states are in that boat.