Over 1 Million Americans Have Lost Health Insurance in Last Year

The number of Americans without medical insurance has risen, according to new statistics published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Some 8 percent Americans across all age groups were uninsured in March, according to figures from the CDC’s quarterly National Health Interview Survey published on August 6. In March 2023, that figure stood at 7.7 percent. More than a million working-age adults and 700,000 under 18s lost their coverage over the one-year period.

That’s the highest rate since before the coronavirus pandemic. It follows a trend of consistently low uninsured rates in the U.S over the past few years, which has been highlighted by officials from the Biden administration as a win during America’s recovery from COVID-19.

For four consecutive quarters in 2023, the percentage of uninsured individuals dropped below 8percent. Prior to 2020, there was a peak in the nation’s uninsured rate, when it passed 10 percent.

The low rate of uninsured Americans can largely be attributed to the sunset of federal government health policies that barred states from redetermining eligibility for Medicaid enrollment during the pandemic. Medicaid provides health insurance to low income individuals and families, and covers around one in five people across the country.

According to health policy group KFF, as of August 1 this year, nearly 25 million people had lost their Medicaid coverage since states started redetermining eligibility. Many of these people will have found health insurance through other providers, or may still be awaiting recertification.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has forecast that more Americans are likely to lose their insurance in the years to come. “The rate in 2034 is projected to be 8.9 percent—higher than it was during the 2021–2023 period but lower than the rate of 10.0 percent in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic,” the office said in June.

Those who are aged 19 to 44 are expected to account for the largest increase in the uninsured population between the current year and 2034. Those 65 and older, due to Medicare coverage, have the highest rates of insurance, with the number of over 65s enrolled in Medicare expected to grow from 60 million in 2023 to 74 million by 2034.

An increase in immigration is also likely to bring uninsured rates up, as newly arrived immigrants are “substantially less likely to have health insurance coverage than the overall population,” the CBO predicts.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has also predicted that the number of those lacking health coverage is likely to reach pre-pandemic levels in two years.