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Commonwealth Fund Finds More Americans Are Underinsured in Employer Health Plans-February 2019 Survey Brief

On February 7, 2019, the Commonwealth Fund released its survey brief, Health Insurance Coverage Eight Years After the ACA: Fewer Uninsured Americans and Shorter Coverage Gaps, But More Underinsured. The report is based on findings from the Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey, 2018.  According to the survey, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has expanded and helped to improve coverage options for individuals without access to job-based health plans. However, 45% of U.S. working-age adults between the ages of 19 to 64 are underinsured.

Key findings include:

  • In 2018, about 158 million Americans under age 65 get their health insurance through an employer;
  • About 25% of those under age 65 are enrolled in the ACA’s marketplace health plans or Medicaid;
  • Fewer adults are insured as compared with 2010 and the duration of coverage gaps has significantly shortened; and
  • About 12.4% of adults are uninsured, statistically unchanged from 2016.

The brief indicates that federal and state governments have the ability to extend the ACA’s coverage gains and help to improve the cost protection of both individual-market and employer plans through various policy options.

The report is available here.