For first time since 2010, America's progress on health insurance stalls

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Washington Post

Business

For first time since 2010, America's progress on health insurance stalls

By Jeff Stein
September 12 at 1:19 PM

America's uninsured rate held essentially steady from 2016 to 2017, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures published on Wednesday, the first year this decade that the nation did not make progress in reducing the ranks of those without health insurance. ... The finding suggests America's recent success in lowering its uninsured population has plateaued, with potential implications for policymaking and the fate of the U.S. health care system.

"There has been a stall in the progress of reducing the number of uninsured Americans," said Laura Skopec, a health care expert at the Urban Institute, a centrist think-tank.

In 2016, 8.8 percent of the American population -- or 28.1 million people -- did not have health insurance. In 2017, the number of those without health care rose by about 400,000 people to 28.5 million while the rate of the uninsured did not change, according to Census Bureau figures. The increase was not statistically significant.

{Middle-class income rose above $61,000 for the first time last year, U.S. Census Bureau says}

The reversal comes after nearly a decade of progress in bolstering the number of Americans with health care. The number of uninsured Americans fell steadily from 2010 until 2016, decreasing by at least 0.3 percentage points every year over that period. From 2010 to 2016, the uninsured rate fell dramatically -- nearly in half -- as tens of millions of more people were signed up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act signed by President Obama in 2010.
....

Jeff Stein is a policy reporter on The Washington Post's Wonkblog team. Before joining The Post, Stein was a congressional reporter for Vox, where he wrote primarily about the Democratic Party and the left. In 2014, he founded the local news nonprofit the Ithaca Voice in Upstate New York. Follow https://twitter.com/jstein_wapo

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/09/12/first-time-since-americas-progress-health-insurance-stalls/

---

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2017
SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
RELEASE NUMBER CB18-144

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2018/income-poverty.html

SEPT. 12, 2018 -- The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that real median household income increased by 1.8 percent between 2016 and 2017, while the official poverty rate decreased 0.4 percentage points. At the same time, the number of people without health insurance coverage and the uninsured rate were not statistically different from 2016.

Median household income in the United States in 2017 was $61,372, an increase in real terms of 1.8 percent from the 2016 median income of $60,309. This is the third consecutive annual increase in median household income.

The nation's official poverty rate in 2017 was 12.3 percent, with 39.7 million people in poverty. The number of people in poverty in 2017 was not statistically different from the number in poverty in 2016. The 0.4 percentage-point decrease in the poverty rate from 2016 (12.7 percent) to 2017 represents the third consecutive annual decline in poverty. Since 2014, the poverty rate has fallen 2.5 percentage points, from 14.8 percent to 12.3 percent.

The percentage of people without health insurance coverage for the entire 2017 calendar year was 8.8 percent, or 28.5 million, not statistically different from 2016 (8.8 percent or 28.1 million people). Between 2016 and 2017, the number of people with health insurance coverage increased by 2.3 million, up to 294.6 million.

These findings are contained in two reports: Income and Poverty in the United States: 2017 and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2017.

https://www.census.gov/content/census/en/library/publications/2018/demo/p60-263.html

https://www.census.gov/content/census/en/library/publications/2018/demo/p60-264.html

Another Census Bureau report, The Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2017, was also released today. The supplemental poverty rate in 2017 was 13.9 percent, not statistically different from the 2016 supplemental poverty rate of 14.0 percent. The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) provides an alternative way of measuring poverty in the United States and serves as an additional indicator of economic well-being. The Census Bureau has published poverty estimates using the SPM annually since 2011 with the collaboration of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Current Population Survey, sponsored jointly by the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics, is conducted every month and is the primary source of labor force statistics for the U.S. population; it is used to calculate the monthly unemployment rate estimates. Supplements are added in most months; the Annual Social and Economic Supplement is designed to give annual, national estimates of income, poverty and health insurance numbers and rates. The most recent Annual Social and Economic Supplement was conducted nationwide (February, March and April 2018) and collected information about income and health insurance coverage during the 2017 calendar year.

The Current Population Survey-based income and poverty report includes comparisons with the previous year, and historical tables in the report contain statistics back to 1959. The health insurance report is based on both the Current Population Survey and the American Community Survey. State and local income, poverty and health insurance estimates will be released Thursday, Sept. 13, from the American Community Survey.

{snip}

[sandensea]

1. Except, of course, for Cheeto and his gang.

The Orange Oaf alone must be costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands in health care for treat everything from diabetes, to gout, to hypertension, and - needless to say - STDs galore.

Ivanka's frisky, you see.

[thbobby]

2. Maybe std's are a family disease for trumps /nt

[Liberalagogo]

5. The family that plays together...

n/t

[BumRushDaShow]

3. "The reversal comes after nearly a decade of progress"

The data do not reflect the Trump administration’s most significant changes to the American health care system, which primarily came into effect in 2018.

Then they may be in for a rude awakening. They refuse to say because it was sabotaged. The closest they get is this -

Some health care experts blamed the Trump administration for eliminating the Affordable Care Act’s outreach budget. Others said the numbers reflect a leveling off the gains under the ACA, as fewer states expanded Medicaid to their poor populations than did in the initial years of the law's implementation.

In the past, some of the deadlines were extended to handle the "last minute" folks. The past year that did not happen.

[dchill]

4. Republican announcer: "GOOOOOOAAAAAAAAL!"

[BigmanPigman]

6. Kavanaugh will put the nail in the coffin

Last edited Thu Sep 13, 2018, 01:10 AM - Edit history (2)

for literally thousands of people when he completely destroys what is left of the ACA and pre-existing conditions. I am one of those lucky victims. Call your senator and tell them NO KAVANAUGH!
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1011&pid=2543

[phone] DC Offices. Thank you!