3.2 Million More Americans Were Uninsured In 2017 Than 2016

WASHINGTON, DC — Fewer Americans had health coverage in 2017 than in 2016 as the uninsurance rate rose 1.3 points to 12.2 percent — the largest single-year increase ever recorded, according to Gallup. The polling firm says this means about 3.2 million more people were uninsured in 2017 than the previous year.

By the end of 2016, the insurance rate was at 10.9 percent, its lowest point Gallup has found since it began tracking in 2008. The uninsured rate peaked at 18 percent in 2013 before the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, went into full effect in 2014, and has since plunged. In addition to providing subsidies, marketplaces and expanding government-provided care, the law penalized people who chose to forgo health insurance with an extra tax.

"Several factors likely contributed to the increase in the uninsured rate in 2017," Gallup's Zac Auter said in a press release. "Some insurance companies stopped offering insurance through the exchanges, and the resulting lack of competition drove up the cost of plans for consumers. This may have caused some Americans, especially those who failed to qualify for federal subsidies, to forgo insurance."

Jonathan Gruber, an MIT economist who worked on the Affordable Care Act, told Patch that the Trump administration's promise to repeal the law has helped drive insurers out of the marketplace. He also said that the administration's efforts to "undermine" the open enrollment period, which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services cut from 12 weeks to six weeks last year, also serves to reduce the insurance rate.

“The fundamental failures of Obamacare have led to a broken status quo that is driving up the cost of insurance, driving down the number of choices available, and leaving millions of Americans behind." the departments said in a statement. "This administration is focused on reforms that will help Americans gain access to quality, affordable healthcare and insurance coverage that meets their needs, not Washington dictates.”

The massive tax overhaul bill Republicans passed in December included a provision eliminating the ACA's fine for not having insurance. The Congressional Budget Office has predicted that this change could result in millions more being uninsured by 2027 than if the penalty had been left in place. It also predicts that insurance premiums will be higher as a result.

Black people, Hispanics, young adults and those who make less than $36,000 a year saw the biggest rises in their uninsurance rates, according to Gallup. About 29.6 percent of Hispanics, 14.8 percent of black people and 22.8 percent of those with incomes under $36,000 were uninsured in 2017, the survey found.

The White House has previously made it clear that it hopes to see the uninsured rate drop, or at least remain stable. As president-elect, Donald Trump had promised that everyone would be insured under his administration.

“We’re going to have insurance for everybody,” Trump told The Washington Post. “There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it. That’s not going to happen with us.”

Later, when discussing the administration's hopes for health care legislation, counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway said, "We don't want anyone who currently has insurance to not have insurance."

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