Inequities in health insurance coverage and access for Black and Hispanic adults: the impact of Medicaid expansion and the pandemic

Inequities in health insurance coverage and access for Black and Hispanic adults: the impact of Medicaid expansion and the pandemic

Collection:
Health Policy and Services Research
Series Title(s):
Data brief (Commonwealth Fund)
Author(s):
Baumgartner Jesse C., author
Collins, Sara R., author
Radley, David C., author
Contributor(s):
Commonwealth Fund, issuing body.
Publication:
[New York, New York] : The Commonwealth Fund, March 2023
Language(s):
English
Format:
Text
Subject(s):
Black or African American -- statistics & numerical data
COVID-19
Health Services Accessibility -- statistics & numerical data
Healthcare Disparities -- statistics & numerical data
Hispanic or Latino
Insurance Coverage -- statistics & numerical data
Insurance Coverage -- trends
Medicaid -- statistics & numerical data
Adult
United States
Genre(s):
Technical Report
Abstract:
Since its passage in 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has helped cut the U.S. uninsured rate nearly in half while significantly reducing racial and ethnic disparities in both insurance coverage and access to care--particularly in states that expanded their Medicaid programs. While much of that progress occurred between 2013 and 2016, federal data show that more than 5 million people gained coverage between 2020 and early 2022, driving the uninsured rate down to a historic low of 8 percent. This recent progress has been driven by federal and state policy actions that increased Medicaid and ACA marketplace coverage, primarily: (1) a requirement in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020 that states keep people with Medicaid coverage continuously enrolled during the COVID-19 public health emergency, in exchange for greater federal funding (2) additional states expanding eligibility for their Medicaid programs (3) enhanced marketplace premium subsidies. In this brief, we update our 2020 and 2021 analyses of coverage and access inequities for Black and Hispanic adults in the U.S. using 2013–2021 data from the American Community Survey and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. With a focus on the effects of Medicaid expansion and pandemic-era coverage policies, our update examines trends among and disparities between Black, Hispanic, and white adults across the following measures: (1) adults ages 19 to 64 who are uninsured (2) adults ages 18 to 64 who went without care in the past 12 months because of cost (3) adults ages 18 to 64 who report having a usual health care provider.
Copyright:
Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)
Extent:
1 online resource (1 PDF file (23 pages))
Illustrations:
Illustrations
NLM Unique ID:
9918627285506676 (See catalog record)
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918627285506676