ACA Helping to Curb Ranks of Uninsured: Commonwealth Survey

Between 2010—the year the healthcare law was signed—and the end of 2012, the number of uninsured adults leveled off, reversing a seven-year trend of rising numbers of uninsured, according to a survey released today by the Commonwealth Fund.

The survey also found that as a result of a provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act allowing young people to stay on their parents' health plan until they turn 26, the percentage of those between 19 and 25 who were uninsured declined 7 percentage points to 41%. The study's author, Commonwealth Vice President Sara Collins, said this reversed a nearly decade-long trend.

Between 2003 and 2010, the number of uninsured rose to 29 million from 16 million. However, from 2010 to 2012, the figure increased by only 1 million to 30 million. Commonwealth attributed the leveling off to slower growth in healthcare costs, lower overall spending on healthcare and declining incomes, but also to provisions in the 2010 healthcare law to increase the affordability of health coverage.

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Source: Modern Healthcare