Increases in Health Insurance Coverage: By The Numbers

Regionally we have seen increases in the number of people with health insurance coverage, especially since the launching of the Affordable Care Act. More than 15,000 additional people living in Herkimer and Oneida Counties now have health insurance than did five years ago.

The graphic below provides some sense of the changes we have seen since 2009 in the numbers of people who have enrolled in insurance. Click to enlarge the graphic.

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Regional Changes in the Percent and Number of Persons Insured Since ACA Implementation

Insurance numbers and percentages for the Herkimer-Oneida Counties region since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The data comes from the single year American Communities Survey between 2012 and 2014.

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Gallup Poll: Uninsured Rate Continues to Fall

According to a report by the Gallup pollsters, the percent of the population without health care insurance has continued to fall since reaching a national high of 18% in the third quarter of 2013. These data are based on more than 28,000 interviews with Americans from Jan. 2-Feb. 28, 2014, as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well Being Index. The uninsured rate is on track to be the lowest quarterly level that Gallup and Healthways have measured since 2008.

Based on the graph below, the percent of Americans who are uninsured appears to have been declining since even earlier, from around the second quarter of 2011 when it was 17.4%. Since then (other than the spike in the 3rd quarter of 2013) there appears to be a steady decline in those without insurance.

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According to Gallup, this drop in 2014 could be a result of the Affordable care Act (ACA), which aims to provide healthcare coverage to more Americans through multiple provisions, including federal and state healthcare marketplaces where Americans can purchase health insurance coverage at competitive rates. At the end of February, HHS reported 4 million people have signed up for health insurance coverage through the marketplaces established under the ACA. With the open enrollment period scheduled to close on March 31, the uninsured rate in the U.S. will likely continue to fall.

Regionally, the overall percentage of uninsured residents (the blue line in the chart below) appears to be relatively steady at around 8% of the population. If anything, there appears to be a slight uptick in the numbers since around 2010. What happens to these percentages once post-ACA data becomes available will be interesting to see.

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To get a full review of health insurance coverage for our region between 2009 and 2012, review the table below.

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The New Health Care Law: Where States Stand on the ACA

This is an interesting set of maps from the Advisory Board Company concerning where states stand in regard to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). A Supreme Court ruling on the ACA allowed states to opt of the law's Medicaid expansion, leaving each state's decision to participate in the hands of the nation's governors and state leaders. The first map shows each state's position based on legislative or executive actions to expand coverage to low-income residents using ACA funding.

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Then a second map shows the number of persons per one thousand that are uninsured in each state.

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To learn more about the ACA and the uninsured in Herkimer and Oneida Counties, revisit this earlier blog post.

Implementation of the Affordable Care Act: The Uninsured in Herkimer and Oneida Counties

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Affordable Care Act, will soon be ramping up. According to the federal government's Healthcare.gov website, there are three particularly important dates to pay attention to in the near future. These dates are:

• October 1, 2013: When the insurance marketplace open enrollment starts
• January 1, 2014: When health coverage can start
• March 31, 2014: When the open enrollment period ends

Here's a look at insurance coverage for the citizens of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, as well as New York State, as we move toward implementation of this insurance coverage system.

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