Rand: 9.3 million uninsured gain coverage since September

A highly anticipated study from the Rand Corp. released this week concludes that at least 9.3 million more previously uninsured Americans have health insurance now than in Sept ember 2013. (Source: “Rand's Obamacare stats: 9.3 million new insureds, and counting,” Los Angeles Times, April 8, 2014)

The study’s estimate of 9.3 million newly insured is a net figure, accommodating all those who lost their individual health insurance because of cancellations. According to the study, the number of people getting insurance through their employers increased by 8.2 million. Rand said the increase is likely to have been driven by a decline in unemployment, which made more people eligible for employer plans, and by the incentives in the Affordable Care Act encouraging more employer coverage.

The Rand also confirms other surveys that placed the number of people who lost their old insurance and did not or could not replace it at less than 1 million. The Rand experts call this a "very small" number, less than 1% of the U.S. population age 18 to 64.

The Rand study was eagerly anticipated in part because of the dearth of hard information from other sources, including the federal and state governments, which are still compiling their statistics and may not have a full slate for months.