U.S. Census data shows 1.3 million drop in uninsured

New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that 1.3 million more Americans had health insurance in 2011, a reversal of a decade-long trend (Source: "Wider health coverage spurred by reform, income decline," Reuters, Sept. 12, 2012).

The data shows that 48.6 million Americans (or 15.7 percent of the population) did not have health coverage last year, down from 50 million in 2010. The findings were part of the Census Bureau's report "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2011" (pdf, 89 pages).

The group that saw the largest improvement (a 2.2 percent increase) were people aged 19 to 25, who are now allowed to stay on their parents plan under the Affordable Care Act. Analysts predict that the number of uninsured will drop by more than 30 million in 2014 when the ACA is fully implemented.

The report found that 4 million more Americans received coverage through a government program in 2011 than in 2010. Private coverage rates continued to fall for those aged 25 to 64 and the overall rate of Americans with private coverage was unchanged from last year.