Healthcare coverage in the U.S. evolved over the past half-decade with the implementation and slow demise of the ACA. Here are key trends from the U.S. Census Bureau's report "Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2016."
1. The uninsured rate dropped 0.3 percent from 2015 to 2016, leaving 8.8 percent, or 28.1 million people, uninsured for the entire year. In 2015, 29 million people were uninsured for the whole year.
2. Two-thirds of covered Americans had private health insurance; another 27.7 percent had government coverage.
3. A little over half — 55.7 percent — of the population reported having employer-based insurance for at least a portion of the calendar year; 19.4 percent reported Medicaid, 16.7 percent reported Medicare and 16.2 percent direct-purchase.
4. Medicare coverage increased 0.4 percent from 2015 to 2016.
5. The percentage of people under 65 years old without health insurance dropped, with the largest decrease among working-age adults.
6. Around 5.4 percent of children were uninsured in 2016, similar to the uninsured rates in 2015. However, the rate of uninsured children in poverty was 7 percent.
7. Non-Hispanic Whites had the lowest insured rate — 6.3 percent — compared to 10.5 percent among Black Americans and 7.6 percent among Asian Americans. Hispanic Americans had the highest uninsured rate at 16 percent.
8. The rate of uninsured individuals decreased in 39 states between 2015 and 2016, while 11 states didn't have a statistically significant change over the past year.