At 2.8 percent, Mass. uninsured rate is nation's lowest
In 2015, over 97 percent of Massachusetts residents had health coverage, according to Census data.
Massachusetts policy leaders have largely moved on from the debate over health insurance access to focus on harnessing the growing and high costs of care, but an analysis of new Census data shows the state continues to lead the country with a 2.8 percent uninsured rate.
Data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Department showed that in 2015 over 97 percent of Massachusetts residents had health coverage, which was mandated under a 2006 health care access law that became the model for national health reform under President Barack Obama.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimated that about 189,000 people in Massachusetts did not have health insurance in 2015, a status that could lead to tax penalties.
The uninsured rate is down from 3.3 percent in 2014 and well below the national average of 9.8 percent. The uninsured rate, based on the Census data analyzed by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, has been steadily falling since at least 2010 when it was 4.4 percent.
Vermont followed by Hawaii are the next closest states to Massachusetts for rate of residents insured, while Texas has the worst uninsured rate.
"Today's Census report shows that there are 15 million fewer people without health insurance than when key provisions of the Affordable Care Act took effect in 2013. That is a remarkable policy accomplishment, and it started right here in Massachusetts," Noah Berger, president of MassBudget, said in a statement.
While MassBudget noted health coverage has increased by as much as 8 percent in some states that have accepted federal funding to expand Medicaid coverage, the cost of providing that subsidized care in Massachusetts and elsewhere has continued to climb at rates that have put a strain state and household budgets and drawn resources away from other public policy priorities.
A new special commission of lawmakers, policy experts and health care industry executive convened its first meeting on Tuesday to begin a new effort to examine ways to address variations in health care prices for similar services. The commission must file a report by March 2017.
The Census Bureau on Tuesday also reported that real median household income increased by 5.2 percent in the United States between 2014 and 2015 - to $53,516. It was the first annual increase in median household income since 2007. Real median earnings of men and women who worked full-time, year-round between 2014 and 2015 increased 1.5 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively.
The nation's poverty rate in 2015 was 13.5 percent, a 1.2 percent reduction from 2014. Despite the largest annual percentage point drop in the poverty rate since 1999, there were still 43.1 million people in poverty in the U.S. in 2015.
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