Connecticut’s uninsured rate up, reversing four-year trend
New numbers from the US Census Bureau report that 194,000 or 5.5% of Connecticut residents were uninsured last year. That number is up 22,000 from the year before when the uninsured rate was 4.9%. The new data breaks a 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 8.7%.
Most Connecticut residents continue to be covered by an employer-based plan, although that rate has been declining for years.
There is no evidence that the ACA reduced employer-sponsored coverage in Connecticut. While employer-sponsored coverage has eroded in our state, as it has nationally, that loss pre-dated the ACA.
Connecticut residents remain somewhat more likely to have employer-sponsored coverage than most Americans.
Connecticut lost more employer-sponsored coverage from 2008 through 2013, during the recession (-213,000) than since ACA expansions (-32,000).
Surprisingly, Connecticut Medicaid enrollment grew more before the ACA expansion than after, likely due to the recession. Since 2013 the percent of Connecticut residents with Medicaid coverage has stayed very close to the national average.
Sources: Health Insurance Coverage in the United States 2017, US Census, September 12, 2018, https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2018/income-poverty.html