All the other states, except Nevada, that had an uninsured population of more than 14 percent did not expand their Medicaid programs. And Medicaid, the joint federal and state health care program for the poor, was available for people earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level in participating states.
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Median income – the point where half of the households have income below it and half have income above it – showed no statistically significant change, despite the small drop to $53,700 in 2014 from 2013’s $54,500.
While the number of uninsured declined significantly in all 50 states, according to the Census data, the states that did not allow the expansion of Medicaid lagged in the declines.
The rate of uninsured declined despite the fact that there was no change in median household income or the official poverty rate, the Census Bureau said.
Another study has found that the amount of uninsured New Mexicans fell since the passage of health care overhaul legislation.
“People should stick to actual ACA enrollment data for measuring the number of Americans with health coverage and how those coverage patterns have changed over time”, Ed Haislmaier, a senior research fellow at Heritage, said in a statement.
The Census Bureau said the national uninsured rate had been relatively stable between 2008 and 2013 before dropping past year .
According to the Current Population Survey, the percentage of people with health insurance for all or part of 2014 was 89.6%, higher than the 2013 rate of 86.7%.
While the gains in insurance coverage were widespread, they were not equal in every category.
Colorado gained 45,396 people more than it lost in one year, ranking behind only four states – Florida, Texas, South Carolina and Arizona – in net migration gains.
Massachusetts had the lowest percentage of uninsured residents, at 3.3.
In La Crosse County, however, rates have dropped from 9.1 percent of families living under the threshold in 2013 to 4.4 percent in 2014.
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But Mr. Knickman cautions that many more New Yorkers remain uninsured, including “hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who today are ineligible for health insurance” under Obamacare.
