Document Type

Report

Publication Date

9-2016

Abstract

Health insurance is a means for financing a person’s health care expenses. While the majority of people have private health insurance, primarily through an employer, many others obtain coverage through programs offered by the government. Other individuals do not have health insurance at all (see the text box “What Is Health Insurance Coverage?”).

Over time, changes in the rate of health insurance coverage and the distribution of coverage types may reflect economic trends, shifts in the demographic composition of the population, and policy changes that impact access to care. Several such policy changes occurred in 2014, when many provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) went into effect (see the text box “Health Insurance Coverage and the Affordable Care Act”).

This report presents statistics on health insurance coverage in the United States in 2015, changes in health insurance coverage rates between 2014 and 2015, as well as changes in health insurance coverage rates between 2013 and 2015. The statistics in this report are based on information collected in two surveys conducted by the Census Bureau, the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC) and the American Community Survey (ACS) (see the text box “Two Measures of Health Insurance Coverage”). Throughout the report, unless otherwise noted, estimates come from the CPS ASEC.

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