The gap in insurance coverage between whites and minorities has narrowed since Obamacare’s passage, new data finds.
A new study released Wednesday in the journal Health Affairs looked at the uninsured rate for white, black and Hispanic adults from 2013 to 2014, focusing on just before and after the first Obamacare enrollment period.
The study found that by the fourth quarter of 2014 the uninsurance rate for Hispanics had dropped to nearly 32 percent from 40 percent in the third quarter of 2013. The rate for blacks declined from 25 percent to 17 percent and whites from nearly 15 percent to about 10 percent, according to Health Affairs.
Researchers found reductions in the uninsured rate in states that both expanded and did not expand Medicaid under Obamacare.
While the gap between minorities and whites has shrunk, the researchers with the University of California, Los Angeles, noted that significant gaps in uninsured rates remain. Hispanics particularly continue to face large gaps in coverage, the study said.
The results were released the same day census data showed that nine million fewer people were uninsured in the first year of Obamacare.
Before the law’s marketplaces opened, 13.3 percent of Americans lacked health coverage. After plans became available, that share dropped to 10.4 percent of the U.S. population.
