Health insurance for Americans remains same despite efforts from present government

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDMay 22 2018

A major new government survey has revealed that Americans have preferred to keep their health insurance same as before despite the motions by President Donald Trump to remove Obama-care policies altogether.

Image Credit: Karen Roach

The survey shows that after one whole year of Trump's presidency, the uninsured rates remain 9.1 percent in 2017 which is similar to what it was at the end of Obama administration. These statistics come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that says that at present this number means 29 million people are uninsured. The numbers at 9.1 percent had dropped from 16 percent in 2010 when Obama’s Affordable Care Act came into being. This had meant that 19 million more people had come under the coverage umbrella due to the act. The survey relied upon face-to-face interviews with 78,000 people for its data.

Health economist Gail Wilensky said that this new survey report shows that Republicans have failed to repeal Obamacare and the number of uninsured remains “flat” or same. He said, “That's good news for the country, and it might turn out to be good news for Republicans when it comes time for the midterm elections.” He called this report a “credible” data source due to the large population involved.

The National Health Interview Survey from the CDC also noted that some groups showed more number of uninsured than others. This could mean potential problems in future say experts. According to the new health laws all individuals are required to carry health insurance or risk fines and this takes effect next year 2019. Experts believe that the number of uninsured would only rise once the mandate for health insurance comes into action.

Katherine Hempstead, a senior health policy adviser at the nonpartisan Robert Wood Johnson Foundation said that this trend as seen in the report shows that people place a high value on health insurance and they would “tenaciously hang on to their health insurance.” The report revealed that the number of middle class individuals or the “not poor” adults tend to increase in terms of uninsured. There were 8.2 percent in this population that was uninsured. According to Hempstead this meant that this population was unable to pay for the rising premiums that they need to for individual plans. These individuals are not eligible for the subsidized coverage under the Affordable Care Act she explained.

The percentage of the uninsured was around 19 percent in several states that did not fall under the purview of the ACA’s Medicaid expansion that provided coverage for low income groups. This contrasted with the 9 percent uninsured in states that had opted for the Medicaid coverage.

The survey goes on to reveal that nearly 44 percent of the population that is insured is required to pay at least $1,300 in medical costs per year or $2,600 in family coverage.