The number of Americans with health insurance coverage in 2025 was relatively unchanged, despite Democrats’ concerns that Republican-led healthcare reform efforts would dramatically increase the uninsured rate.
Last year, only 26.7 million Americans, or about 7.9%, were without some sort of health insurance coverage, according to new data released from the U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday.
U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement, September 15, 2026.
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U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement, September 15, 2026.
The new data does not reflect changes to the number of uninsured Americans following changes to both Medicaid and Obamacare Marketplace insurance plans through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed in July 2025.
Analysts expect to use the Census data released on Tuesday as a benchmark in the years ahead to measure the effects of the OBBBA on insurance coverage.
Of the types of insurance, more than half of Americans were enrolled in employer-based insurance. Medicare coverage increased by 0.6 percentage points to roughly 20% of the population.
Coverage through Medicaid, the social safety net program for low-income Americans that covers about 17% the population, went down by 0.5 percentage points.
Employer-based coverage, U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement, September 15, 2026
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Employer-based coverage, U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement, September 15, 2026
The new insurance numbers for this year could be used by Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterms to support their claim that the OBBBA, which has been rebranded to the Working Families Tax Cut, has not hindered access to healthcare coverage.
But Democrats are likely to note that major aspects of the legislation, including the implementation of work requirements for able-bodied Medicaid enrollees, do not take effect until 2027.
While Republicans argue that 80 hours per month of work, education, or volunteering is a reasonable requirement for able-bodied adults in the program, Democrats predict millions of eligible Americans will be kicked off the program because they failed to meet rigid reporting requirements or because states are not equipped to determine eligibility.
The uninsured rate has been trending downward, declining from 16% in 2010 to 8.2% in 2024 according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, but analysts expect it to begin rising in the next few years.
Democrats and health policy experts credit much of the initial decline to the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, in 2010. The 2013 launch of the Obamacare marketplace exchanges, as well as the expansion of Medicaid coverage to able-bodied working-age adults in 2014, also contributed to the decrease in the uninsured rate.
Enrollment in Obamacare exchange plans nearly doubled during the Biden administration after Democrats passed additional premium subsidies that did not depend upon income thresholds during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Republican-controlled Congress did not reauthorize the enhanced premium subsidies after they expired at the end of 2025, despite Democrats shutting down the government last fall in an effort to force a deal.
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Healthcare affordability has been a major issue for voters ahead of the general election in November, with some polls suggesting healthcare costs weigh more heavily on voters’ minds than other costs, such as groceries and gasoline.
About four in 10 insured U.S. adults said they find it somewhat difficult to afford their health insurance premiums, according to an April survey from the health policy group KFF.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
