U.S. uninsured rate steady at 12.2%
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It is up 1.3 percentage points from the record low of 10.9% found in the last quarter of 2016.
The 1.3-point increase in the uninsured rate during 2017 is the largest single-year increase Gallup and Sharecare have measured since beginning to track the rate in 2008, including the period before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) went into effect.
That 1.3 point increase represents an estimated 3.2 million Americans who entered the ranks of the uninsured in 2017.
The results for the fourth quarter of 2017 are based on more than 25,000 interviews with U.S. adults aged 18 and older from October 1 to December 31, conducted as part of the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index.
Despite the uninsured rate rising in 2017, it remains well below its peak of 18.0% measured in the third quarter of 2013, prior to the implementation of the ACA's healthcare exchanges and the requirement that most adults have health insurance or be subject to a fine, commonly known as the individual mandate. ■