The U.S. Census Bureau will release its annual health insurance report next week, and it likely will mirror other studies and surveys that show the ranks of the uninsured continue to drop.
But the uninsured pool will still encompass several million Americans, particularly undocumented immigrants.
Next Wednesday, the Census Bureau will drop its latest results, which will highlight how many people went without health coverage for the entire 2014 calendar year. The report is based on two extensive surveys.
In 2013, 13.4% of the U.S. population, or 42 million people, had no health insurance whatsoever, according to last year's Census Bureau assessment (PDF). For the 271.4 million people who did have insurance, about two-thirds had private coverage through an employer or the individual market.
Next week's report will include the first full year of data from the Affordable Care Act's exchanges, which have expanded coverage to about 10 million people. Millions more have gained insurance through the expansion of Medicaid eligibility.
Other results indicate the uninsured figure is clearly on the way down. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health Interview Survey from June showed the number of the uninsured in 2014 totaled 36 million people, or 11.5% of the population. A Gallup-Healthways survey from April pegged the uninsured rate at 11.9% for the first quarter of 2015.
However, undocumented immigrants are still not eligible to receive premium subsidies, preventing them from buying on the exchanges and leaving many uninsured. Further, while health plans now require first-dollar coverage of many preventive screenings, more consumers are being directed toward high-deductible plans and narrow networks that require more out-of-pocket payments. Many experts have said this has pushed people from the ranks of the uninsured into the underinsured.
The Census Bureau also breaks down health insurance data by age, household income, race and other demographics.
