Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2016

September 12, 2017 - US Census Bureau

Highlights

• The uninsured rate decreased between 2015 and 2016 by 0.3 percentage points as measured by the CPS ASEC. In 2016, the per­centage of people without health insurance coverage for the entire calendar year was 8.8 percent, or 28.1 million, lower than the rate and number of uninsured in 2015 (9.1 percent or 29.0 million).
• The percentage of people with health insurance coverage for all or part of 2016 was 91.2 percent, higher than the rate in 2015 (90.9 percent).
• In 2016, private health insur­ance coverage continued to be more prevalent than govern­ment coverage, at 67.5 percent and 37.3 percent, respectively. Of the subtypes of health insur­ance coverage, employer-based insurance covered 55.7 percent of the population for some or all of the calendar year, followed by Medicaid (19.4 percent), Medicare (16.7 percent), direct-purchase (16.2 percent), and military cover­age (4.6 percent).
• Between 2015 and 2016, the rate of Medicare coverage increased by 0.4 percentage points to cover 16.7 percent of people for part or all of 2016 (up from 16.3 percent in 2015). There was no statistically signifi­cant difference between 2015 and 2016 for any other subtype of health insurance.
• Between 2015 and 2016, the percentage of people without health insurance coverage dropped for most ages under 65, with generally larger decreases for working-age adults (aged 19 to 64).
• The percentage of uninsured chil­dren under age 19, 5.4 percent, did not significantly change between 2015 and 2016.
• In 2016, the uninsured rate for children under age 19 in poverty, 7.0 percent, was higher than the uninsured rate for children not in poverty, 5.0 percent.
• In 2016, non-Hispanic Whites had the lowest uninsured rate among race and Hispanic origin groups, at 6.3 percent. The uninsured rates for Blacks and Asians were higher than for non-Hispanic Whites, at 10.5 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively. Hispanics had the highest uninsured rate, at 16.0 percent.
• Between 2015 and 2016, the per­centage of people without health insurance at any time during the year fell 0.4 percentage points for non-Hispanic Whites, down to 6.3 percent. There was no statistical change in the uninsured rate for Blacks, Asians, or Hispanics dur­ing this period.
• Between 2015 and 2016, the percentage of people without health insurance coverage at the time of interview decreased in 39 states. Eleven states and the District of Columbia did not have a statisti­cally significant change in their uninsured rate.