clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

3 charts Obamacare opponents will have trouble explaining

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Obamacare has significantly reduced the number of uninsured Americans. You can see it in this new graph from the Census Bureau, which is the federal agency's first look at who has coverage after the health law's insurance expansion took effect:

(Census Bureau)

The Census Bureau estimates that 8.8 million Americans gained coverage in 2014. The percentage of Americans who lack coverage dropped from 13.3 percent in 2013 to 10.4 percent in 2014. The declines have happened all across the country, with states that expanded their Medicaid programs seeing some of the biggest declines.

(Census Bureau)

The uninsured rate has definitely dropped under Obamacare. What hasn't happened, meanwhile, is a deterioration of the insurance at work. When Obamacare started, some worried that the law would erode employer-sponsored insurance, as companies dumped workers onto the public marketplaces. But the census data suggests that in 2014, that didn't happen. Coverage at work looks pretty much the same as it did prior to Obamacare.

(Census Bureau)