This is the direct and proximate result of Herr TRUMP's attacks on the Affordable Care Act and slashing funds for navigators to help people choose health insurance. We need Medicare for All.
Share of Americans With Health Insurance Declined in 2018
The drop, despite a strong economy, was the first since 2014 and at least partly caused by efforts to weaken the Affordable Care Act.
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A patient is fitted for new glasses at a clinic in Knoxville, Tenn., in February. More Americans lacked health insurance last year for the first time in years.CreditCreditSpencer Platt/Getty Images
Fewer Americans are living in poverty but, for the first time in years, more of them lack health insurance.
About 27.5 million people, or 8.5 percent of the population, lacked health insurance for all of 2018, up from 7.9 percent the year before, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. It was the first increase since the Affordable Care Act took full effect in 2014, and experts said it was at least partly the result of the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine that law.
The growth in the ranks of the uninsured was particularly striking because the economy was doing well. The same report showed the share of Americans living in poverty fell to 11.8 percent, the lowest level since 2001. Median household income was $63,200, essentially unchanged from a year earlier after adjusting for inflation, but significantly above where it was during the Great Recession.
Ben Casselman writes about economics, with a particular focus on stories involving data. He previously reported for FiveThirtyEight and The Wall Street Journal. @bencasselman•Facebook
Jeanna Smialek writes about the Federal Reserve and the economy for The New York Times. She previously covered economics at Bloomberg News, where she also wrote feature stories for Businessweek magazine. @jeannasmialek
Margot Sanger-Katz is a domestic correspondent and writes about health care for The Upshot. She was previously a reporter at National Journal and The Concord Monitor and an editor at Legal Affairs and the Yale Alumni Magazine.
