News Briefs: Uninsured Rate Reaches Record Low

The national uninsured rate reached an all-time low of 8% in the first quarter of 2022, according to new data from the HHS’s National Health Interview Survey. Since 2020, about 5.2 million people have gained coverage, which the report attributed to enhanced marketplace subsidies under the American Rescue Plan Act, the suspension of Medicaid redeterminations during the COVID-19 public health emergency, several recent state Medicaid expansions and “substantial enrollment outreach” by the Biden administration in 2021 and 2022.

If the 12 holdout states expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act, 3.7 million fewer people would be uninsured next year. That’s according to a new analysis from the Urban Institute and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which noted that “Black individuals, young adults, and women —particularly women of reproductive age — would realize the largest coverage gains if the 12 states expanded eligibility.” Fiscally speaking, extending Medicaid expansion nationwide would increase federal spending by $34.5 billion in 2023, but that would be partially offset by $2.6 billion less government spending on uncompensated care.