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Obamacare’s Dramatic Impact On The Uninsured, In 2 Charts

CREDIT: CHARLES DHARAPAK / AP
CREDIT: CHARLES DHARAPAK / AP

The uninsurance rate has plunged to a historic low, according to new polling by Gallup, thanks to the Affordable Care Act’s effort to expand coverage to additional Americans. The rate of Americans without insurance dropped by 3.7 points between the fourth quarter of 2013 and the second quarter of 2014, a dramatic decline that coincided with the open enrollment period for new plans under Obamacare:

All age groups have experienced a drop in the rate of uninsurance. The change has been most pronounced for young adults between the ages of 18 and 25, who may now remain on their parents’ health insurance plans, and smallest for the older adults who already had coverage under Medicare:

“The uninsured rate fell 2.2 points in the second quarter, evidently due to a surge in the percentage of Americans who completed their enrollment in healthcare plans just before the mid-April deadline,” Gallup researchers conclude. They expert the rate to remain relatively constant until Obamacare’s next open enrollment period in the fall.

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However, the recent gains aren’t being dispersed equally across states. Twenty four states continue to refuse Obamacare’s optional Medicaid expansion, effectively denying affordable health care to more than five million low-income Americans. Unsurprisingly, the uninsurance rate is falling the fastest in the states that have expanded Medicaid.

Another recent survey from the Commonwealth Fund found that the majority of people who signed up for plans under Obamacare are satisfied with the insurance they now have, including 74 percent of the Republicans who signed up.