The overall uninsured rate for nonelderly adults took a significant drop from 18.8% in 2013 to 14.4% in 2014, with rates by age lower and declines generally larger among states that expanded Medicaid coverage, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Among adults aged 18-35 years, states (and the District of Columbia) that expanded Medicaid had a larger drop in the percentage who were uninsured for the entire calendar year, going from 19.9% in 2013 to 13.7% in 2014 (6.2 percentage points), than did states that did not expand Medicaid, which dropped from 25.7% to 22.3% (3.4 percentage points), the AHRQ reported.
For adults aged 36-54 years, the situation was similar: The uninsured rate in states that expanded Medicaid went from 15.7% in 2013 to 10.5% in 2014, or 5.2 percentage points, while the rate dropped from 21.4% to 17.4%, or 4 percentage points, in states that did not expand Medicaid, the report noted.
Uninsured rates were lower among adults aged 56-64 in states that did expand Medicaid, but the absolute decrease was actually larger among states that did not expand it. The rate in nonexpanding states decreased by 3.6 percentage points, 16.3% to 12.7%, while expanding states saw a drop from 10.8% to 7.8%, 3 percentage points, according to data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.
