The percentage of uninsured Americans rose to 8.2 percent in the first quarter of this year, according to survey findings published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Aug. 6.
The report estimated that 27.1 million Americans of all ages were without health insurance as of March this year, up from 25.5 million or 7.7 percent at the end of the previous year.
The percentage of uninsured people earning below the federal poverty level increased from 13.9 percent last year to 15.7 percent in the first quarter of 2024, the highest percentage among income levels.
Almost two-thirds (64.9 percent) of people under age 65 were covered by private health insurance and more than a quarter (27.7 percent) were covered by public health insurance in the first three months of 2023.
The number of people of all ages who enrolled in public health insurance plans decreased from 39.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 39.2 percent this year, according to the CDC.
A report released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in June projected that the rate of uninsured Americans will increase to 8.9 percent over the next 10 years due to immigration, among other factors.
“The surge in immigration that began in 2021 (and that CBO projects will continue through 2026) will contribute to the increase as well, as those newly arrived immigrants will, the agency expects, be substantially less likely to have health insurance coverage than the overall population,” the report stated.
The CBO also attributed the rise in the uninsured rate to the end of a COVID-19 pandemic-era policy extending Medicaid eligibility and the expiration of enhanced marketplace subsidies.
The number of uninsured Americans aged between 18 and 44 is projected to see the largest increase over the next decade, according to the CBO report.
In March, President Joe Biden rolled back a Trump-era policy that expanded the availability of limited health insurance policies that are exempt from coverage requirements under the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as “Obamacare.”
These limited health insurance policies, commonly described as “short-term” policies and referred to by Biden as “junk health insurance,” provide a limited range of coverage for lower premiums.
Under President Barack Obama, individuals could be covered through these limited insurance plans for only three months.
In 2018, however, the Trump administration approved a new rule allowing people to obtain coverage under these limited policies for an initial period of 12 months, with the ability to extend the coverage for up to 36 months.
The Biden administration announced a rule that largely reverts to the Obama-era constraints, capping the duration of these limited insurance policies to three months with the ability to extend the policies for one additional month.
