One of the Republicans' (dubious) anti-Obamacare assertions has been that, with the cancellation of substandard insurance plans on the individual market, more Americans have lost than gained health insurance in the post-ACA environment. That claim seems to be getting less and less tenable, as revealed by the latest Gallup tracking poll that assesses the percentage uninsured in the country.
According to results announced today, the percent uninsured has declined to 16.1%. For much of the past three years, the percent uninsured had been above 17% (or even 18%). As Gallup's write-up notes, however, "The uninsured rate has fluctuated at other points over the past several years, so it is unclear if this small decline is a reflection of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act that took effect on Jan. 1, or if this is part of a trend based on other reasons."
In addition, as a report last week from Gallup makes clear, the percentage of 18-25 year-olds who are uninsured has unmistakably declined since the September 2010 onset of the ACA provision allowing children to remain on their parents' plans up through age 26. Before this provision came into effect, generally around 27-28% of 18-25 year-olds reported being uninsured in any given month. Since September 2010, the figure has been in the 23-24% vicinity.
Stay tuned!