FILE – In this March 23, 2010, file photo, President Barack Obama signs the health care bill in the East Room of the White House in Washington. A couple of government reports say the number of uninsured U.S. residents fell by more than 11 million since Obama signed the health care overhaul five years ago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) The number of Americans without health insurance fell by 7.4 million last year as the individual mandates for coverage and expanded assistance programs under Obamacare encouraged more persons to sign up for health insurance coverage.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said today that among adults age 18 to 64, 12.8 percent lacked any health insurance in 2015, down from 16.3 pecent in 2015 and 20.3 percent in 2014. Among all Americans, fewer than one in 10 are now uninsured.
The share of Tennesseans without any health insurance has dropped 2.5 percent over the past couple of years since Obamacare marketplace plans began and individuals who don’t buy insurance had to start paying a tax penalty.
The share of uninsured adults in Tennessee fell from 16.2 percent in 2013, to 14.8 pecent in 2014 to 13.7 percent last year.
In Georgia, the share of adults without health insurance fell from 27.2 percent in 2013 to 20.2 percent in 2014 to 15.9 percent last year.
Alabama also reported a drop in the share of uninsured adults from 17.3 percent in 2013 to 14.3 percent last year.
Because most Southern states opted not to expand their Medicaid programs to cover persons living above the poverty level, Southern states recorded a lower drop in the share of uninsured persons last year.