CDC reports 7.6% of Americans are uninsured

The share of Americans lacking health insurance has remained largely steady in recent years, but questions remain about the future.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Friday shows 7.6% of Americans, or 25.3 million people, lacked health insurance during the time of data collection from April to June. Although the rate represents a 0.4 percentage point increase from the year-ago period, it is consistent with 2023's full-year uninsured rate — a historic annual low.

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“More people have health insurance coverage than ever before — and the peace of mind that comes with it,” Health and Human Services Department Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement Sunday. “That is all thanks to the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid and creation of the Marketplace.”

The Biden administration has strengthened efforts to expand access to health insurance for Americans nationwide through regulatory initiatives that enhanced the ACA and Medicaid program.

People were defined as uninsured if they did not have any private health insurance, public health plan or military plan, or if they had only Indian Health Service coverage or a private plan paying for one time of service. The uninsured rate hit 8.2% in the first quarter, the report said.

The CDC report, conducted by the agency's National Center for Health Statistics, estimated private health insurance provided by job-based plans, the Affordable Care Act marketplace and state-based exchanges covered 62.1% of Americans, or 205.8 million people, from April to June. An estimated 60.2% of Americans had private health coverage during the same period last year.

Affordable Care Act marketplace plans enrolled a record 21.3 million people for 2024 coverage. The Biden administration has attributed the gain to enhanced ACA subsidies, which have helped lower the cost of coverage and are set to expire at the end of next year. Becerra in his statement called on Congress to extend the tax credits.

Nearly 40% of Americans, or 129.5 million people, received coverage through public health plans, including Medicare, Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program and military plans, down from 41.8% during April to June last year.

Medicaid rolls are still compressing after eligibility redeterminations resumed in April 2023. Many Americans deemed ineligible for Medicaid have moved to marketplace and job-based coverage, while others have lost coverage altogether.

Individuals may have both public and private coverage, leading the respective rates to total more than 100%, CDC representatives said.

The report authors noted Friday's estimates were released before final data editing and weighting and may change over time. The information is also subject to sampling error.

The historic drop in the nation’s uninsured rate under the Biden administration could rise to 8.9% within the next decade as Medicaid redeterminations conclude, enhanced ACA subsidies potentially expire, and more immigrants come to the U.S., the Congressional Budget Office said in a Health Affairs article in June.