1) Health Coverage Changes Under the Affordable Care Act: End of 2021 Update -- HHS Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), Office of Health Policy
The U.S. uninsured rate was 8.8% in the fourth quarter of 2021, approaching an all-time low. Enrollment in ACA-related coverage hit a record high by early 2022, topping 35 million Americans.
KEY POINTS
• Newly-released data from the National Health Interview Survey shows that the uninsured rate for the U.S. population was 8.8 percent in Q4 2021 (October – December 2021), down 1.5 percentage points from 10.3 percent in Q4 2020. This reflects approximately 4.9 million people gaining health coverage since the end of 2020.
• Individuals with incomes below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level experienced larger decreases in the uninsured rate than higher income households.
• Coverage gains for adults ages 18-64 from the second half of 2020 to the second half of 2021 occurred across all racial and ethnic groups reported in the new data, with the uninsured rate declining by 3.5 percentage points among Latino adults, 1.8 percentage points among Black adults, and 0.5 percentage points among White adults.
• Meanwhile, administrative data from late 2021 and early 2022 show a record-high number of people with coverage related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – with more than 35 million people estimated to be enrolled in the Medicaid expansion, Basic Health Program, or Marketplace coverage.
• These data suggest that policies including the American Rescue Plan, new state Medicaid expansions, and the 2021 Marketplace Special Enrollment Period, in addition to the economic recovery, have helped Americans gain insurance coverage during the COVID-19 public health crisis.
Web notice:
https://aspe.hhs.gov/reports/health-coverage-changes-2021-update
Issue brief:
https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/77ba3e9c99264d4f76dd662d3b2498c0/aspe-ib-uninsured-aca.pdf
2) New Reports Show Record 35 Million People Enrolled in Coverage Related to the Affordable Care Act, with Historic 21 Million People Enrolled in Medicaid Expansion Coverage (CMS press release)
Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Office of the Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), released a report showing new estimates for coverage related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), concluding that the total enrollment for Medicaid expansion, Marketplace coverage, and the Basic Health Program in participating states has reached an all-time high of more than 35 million people as of early 2022. The ASPE findings build on a report from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) showing a record-breaking 21 million people in more than 40 states and territories gained health care coverage thanks to the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid to low-income adults under 65. More than two million people gained coverage as a result of Medicaid expansion under the Biden-Harris Administration, ensuring health care coverage for underserved communities during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. . . .
https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/new-reports-show-record-35-million-people-enrolled-coverage-related-affordable-care-act-historic-21