Poll: Ohio uninsured rate drops from 17% to 11%

The first statewide poll to determine the uninsured rate in Ohio after the major coverage provisions of the ACA were implemented found that 11 percent of Ohio adults younger than 65 lack coverage, a significant drop from the 17 percent that reported not having health insurance last year (Source: “Uninsured in Ohio down to 11% under Obamacare,” Columbus Dispatch, Aug. 13, 2014).

The Ohio Health Issues Poll, which is conducted by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati through funding from Interact for Health, found that 10 percent of Ohio adults who bought health coverage on their own credited the Affordable Care Act for that coverage.

The poll also suggests that further outreach is needed to Ohioans with lower incomes who remain uninsured. Among Ohioans whose income is 138 percent or less of the federal poverty rate — people who are eligible for Medicaid coverage in Ohio — the uninsured rate was 19.1 percent, according to the poll. And the uninsured rate was 25.6 percent for Ohioans whose income is between 138 percent and 200 percent of the federal poverty rate. Those people qualify not only for tax credits but for additional cost-sharing assistance through the federal government’s health-insurance marketplace.

Full disclosure: The Health Policy Institute of Ohio also receives funding from the Interact for Health, formerly known as the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati.