Nearly 90% of Americans have health insurance, with the percentage of Americans who do not have health insurance dropping to 11.9% in the first quarter of 2015. This is a drop of 1% from the last quarter of 2014 and a drop of 5.2% since the end of 2013, which is when the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, took effect.
The numbers mean that an additional 3.6 million Americans have health insurance. Nearly 15 million Americans have obtained coverage since the law took effect in 2013.
This information comes from a Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index report. This is the lowest percentage of Americans not to have health insurance since 2008, when Gallup and Healthways began tracking the subject. The latest report covers the second sign-up season for health insurance through the state and national insurance exchanges.
The drop in the percentage of uninsured Americans was seen in all key demographic groups, according to the report. However, it has dropped the most in lower-income Americans and in Hispanic-Americans. However, these groups are still more likely to be uninsured than other demographic groups.
The report notes that some but not all of this reduction in the number of uninsured Americans may be due to an improved economy and a falling unemployment rate. The uninsured rate is significantly lower than it was in early 2008, before the economic recession hit the bottom.
Obamacare requires most Americans to carry health insurance and provides subsidies for them to buy health insurance on state or federal exchanges, if they do not get insurance through their employer. It also contained a provision to expand Medicaid. The law is still under attack in Congress and in states that are opposed to Medicaid expansion. There is also an upcoming Supreme Court case that will decide on consumer subsidies.
The Gallup-Healthways report can be read at http://www.gallup.com/poll/182348/uninsured-rate-dips-first-quarter.aspx.