The number of people without health insurance fell during the first six months of 2018, federal data show, despite warnings from Democrats and outside groups that the Trump administration sought to “sabotage” the healthcare system.
The data, released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, show that roughly 28.5 million people, or 8.8 percent of the population, were uninsured during the first half of the year. CDC scientists said the number was “not significantly different from 2017,” when the uninsured rate was 9.1 percent, or 29.3 million people.
The decrease occurred despite actions the Trump administration took, including ending payments to insurers in Obamacare, and despite actions from Republicans in Congress seeking to overhaul the healthcare law.
The information, conducted through surveys each year, helps to reveal how U.S. residents get their health insurance. Among adults between the ages of 18 and 64, 20 percent are covered by the government, meaning through Medicaid or Medicare, and 69.2 had private health insurance, whether purchased directly from an insurer, through the Obamacare marketplaces, or provided by an employer.
Democrats and analysts from the Congressional Budget Office have warned that the number of uninsured will rise in the coming years because Republicans zeroed out the fine for going uninsured beginning in 2019. They also say the Trump administration has given people options to less expensive health insurance plans with fewer benefits that do not meet Obamacare’s rules, which don’t count as plans that help lower the uninsured rate.
