Connecticut’s uninsured rate stabilizes, retaining ACA gains
New numbers from the US Census Bureau report that 187,000 or 5.3% of Connecticut residents were uninsured last year. That number is down slightly from the year before when the uninsured rate was 5.5%, but above 2016’s rate at 4.9%. The new data continues the trend of fewer uninsured that began with implementation of coverage expansions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2014. Connecticut’s uninsured rate remains far better than the US rate of 8.9%.
Connecticut’s uninsured rate trend mirrors the rates of surrounding states and the nation, but gaps remain. Connecticut’s rate is well below the US average, well above Massachusetts’s rate, and tracks closely with New York’s and Rhode Island’s rates.
Most Connecticut residents continue to be covered by an employer-based plan. Connecticut residents remain somewhat more likely to have employer-sponsored coverage than most Americans.
Both US and Connecticut employer-sponsored coverage rates are slowly declining. However, that decline pre-dated implementation of the Affordable Care Act. There is no evidence that the ACA reduced employer-sponsored coverage in Connecticut or the nation.
Connecticut lost more employer-sponsored coverage and gained more Medicaid coverage during the 2008 recession than from the ACA expansion.
Since 2013, the percent of Connecticut residents with Medicaid coverage has stayed very close to the national average.
