America's uninsured rate appears to have leveled off at 13.4 percent since Obamacare's open enrollment ended, new Gallup data showed Thursday.
The uninsured rate for the last quarter of 2013 was 17.1 percent. That means there's been a 22 percent drop over the last five months in people who lack health insurance coverage.
The uninsured rate in both April and May was 13.4 percent in Gallup's regular surveys, suggesting that the decline in Americans without coverage has slowed now that Obamacare's exchanges are no longer open for general enrollment (people with certain life changing events, however, are eligible for special enrollment periods).
It's possible that the uninsured rate could keep falling though, largely because Medicaid — the other big part of Obamacare's insurance expansion — is open for enrollment all year long. People can sign up for that public insurance program anytime, meaning you could see some continued drops in the uninsured rate later this year, too.
Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?
Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:
First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.
Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.
So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)
If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.
Yes, I'll give $5/month
Yes, I'll give $5/month
We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and
Google Pay. You can also contribute via