Gains in health insurance coverage under Obamacare are starting to backslide, a new survey said.
The uninsured rate is now 15.5 percent, up from 12.7 percent in 2016, according to a survey released Friday from the left-leaning think tank Commonwealth Fund. The think tank said that coverage declines are likely due to actions by the Trump administration to weaken Obamacare, including cuts to ads and a shorter enrollment period.
The survey estimated that 4 million people lost coverage as of March 2018 compared to 2016.
It found that rates were up significantly compared with 2016 among low-income adults.
For instance, 25.7 percent of people that earn less than 250 percent of the federal poverty level are uninsured as of March 2018, compared to 23.4 percent in June 2014.
Commonwealth Fund added the uninsured rate was higher among states that did not expand Medicaid under Obamacare. States that expanded Medicaid have an uninsured rate of 11.4 percent, compared to 21.9 percent in March 2018.
It also found about 60 percent of all adults surveyed were aware that Obamacare’s individual mandate was repealed in the tax bill signed into law last year.
Among adults who have insurance, 9 percent of those who got insurance through the individual market, 5 percent with employer coverage and 5 percent with Medicaid said they would drop insurance coverage due to the mandate repeal. People that don’t have insurance through a job or the government get insurance through the individual market, which also includes Obamacare’s insurance exchanges.
The survey said the coverage declines are likely due to the lack of federal action to shore up Obamacare and actions by the Trump administration to hinder the law.
It pointed to the administration’s 90 percent cut to ad funding for the 2018 Obamacare open enrollment period, cutting funding down to $10 million compared to $100 million for the 2017 period mostly presided over by the Obama administration.
It also pointed to new regulations from the Trump administration to expand access to cheaper but low quality health insurance plans that don’t comply with Obamacare insurance requirements. These include expanding the duration of short-term plans from 90 days to nearly 12 months.
The short-term plans are cheaper than Obamacare plans because they do not have to meet certain quality requirements such as covering certain health benefits.
The Trump administration counters that the regulations will help Americans who are suffering from massive price hikes on Obamacare’s exchanges.
Last year the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the uninsured rate declined from 2015 to 2016 by 0.3 percentage points. The census bureau estimated the uninsured rate was 8.8 percent, or 28.1 million Americans.
Commonwealth Fund surveyed 2,403 adults from February to March. The Survey had a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.
