More than 11 percent of Americans still lack health coverage under Obamacare, but the uninsured rate has dropped dramatically since the law’s insurance provisions went into effect.
That’s according to new estimates released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which said 11.5 percent of the public was uninsured in 2014, down from 14.4 percent the year before.
The uninsured rate fell the most for young adults between ages 18 and 25 — traditionally a group with large numbers of uninsured. Now 20 percent of young adults lack coverage, down from 26 percent, largely because of the healthcare law’s requirement for insurers to cover youths up to age 26 on their parents’ plans.
The Affordable Care Act extends coverage to more Americans in two chief ways: by expanding Medicaid to the poorest people (if states accept it) and by providing insurance subsidies to low- and moderate-income people to help them buy private plans.
The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in the next week that could block the subsidies in a majority of the states, the aim of the closely watched King v. Burwell case.
