New federal data show the the number of people uninsured increased by one million in 2019, before the pandemic and economic crisis hit.
The number of people uninsured has been growing since 2016, reversing historic gains following passage of the ACA.
census.gov/newsroom/press…
The number of Americans uninsured increased by 2.3 million from 2016 to 2019, after dropping by 20 million in the years following passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010.
There was a big increase in the share of Hispanics uninsured in 2019 -- 18.7%, up from 17.9% in 2018. Hispanics are the group most likely to be uninsured, and are being hit particularly hard by COVID-19 right now.
President Trump has been unsuccessful in repealing the ACA, but efforts to weaken the law have likely helped to push the number of people uninsured up -- a 90% reduction in outreach, greater leeway for states to limit Medicaid, and repeal of the individual mandate penalty.
For the wonks...
Census released two surveys of health coverage in 2019 today: CPS and ACS.
ACS is likely more reliable since it's bigger and interviews were all conducted pre-COVID.
The CDC released another survey last week (NHIS), but that had some methodology changes.
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