Democrats and President Obama have cause to celebrate as the CDC has found that the uninsured rate in the United States has fallen to a record low of 9%.
The CDC report found:
– The number of uninsured persons continued to decline from 2013. In the first 6 months of 2015, 28.5 million persons of all ages (9.0%) were uninsured at the time of interview—7.5 million fewer persons than in 2014 and 16.3 million fewer than in 2013.
– Among adults aged 18-64, the percentage uninsured decreased from 16.3% in 2014 to 12.7% in the first 6 months of 2015. There was a corresponding increase in private coverage, from 67.3% to 70.6%. In 2013, among adults aged 18-64, 20.4% were uninsured and 64.2% had private coverage.
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– Among children under age 18 years, the percentage with private coverage increased from 52.6% in 2013 to 56.0% in the first 6 months of 2015, reversing a 14-year trend of declining rates of private coverage.
– Among those under age 65, the percentage with private coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace or state-based exchanges increased from 2.5% (6.7 million) in the fourth quarter of 2014 to 4.0% (10.7 million) in the second quarter of 2015.
Republicans told the country that ObamaCare would cause people to lose their insurance. They were wrong. For the first time, 91% of Americans have health insurance. Republicans also warned during the 2010 and 2012 elections that ObamaCare would kill the private insurance system. They were wrong. The private insurance system has flourished under the ACA.
ObamaCare isn’t, nor ever was, a government takeover of healthcare.
The reason Republicans can’t come up with a suitable replacement for the Affordable Care Act is because the current law is working even better than expected. The Republican idea that they can repeal and replace ObamaCare is sounding more like political suicide with each passing day. Repealing and replacing a law that has brought the country closer to universal health care coverage than it has ever been is going to be nearly impossible.
President Obama accomplished something that Democrats had been trying to for decades. Obama brought real reform to the health insurance system. More people are covered than at any time in American history. In this respect, President Obama really has fundamentally transformed America and brought the change that everyone can believe in.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
