Where Does the U.S. Stand on Insurance Coverage Now?
<p>Following Congress’s failure to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), some policy leaders are calling for bipartisan approaches to strengthening the law’s coverage expansions. The fifth installment of a Commonwealth Fund survey tracking the ACA’s implementation highlights areas for improvement, finding that while the uninsured rate among working-age adults was mainly unchanged over the past year, the rate rose among 35-to-49-year-olds, people with incomes too high for premium tax credits, and adults in states that did not expand Medicaid.</p><p>Researchers Sara Collins, Munira Gunja, and Michelle Doty also report that at least half of the remaining Americans without coverage are likely eligible for marketplace subsidies or Medicaid. Yet 40 percent of uninsured adults were not aware of the health care marketplaces. Rates were highest among people with low incomes and racial and ethnic minorities.</p>
<p>Policy fixes like expanding Medicaid in all states, making premium subsidies available to more people, and helping consumers navigate the marketplaces, the authors say, could address some of the barriers the uninsured face.</p>