Percentage of adults without health insurance stays flat

Numbers consistent over the past year

The percentage of all adults in the U.S. without health insurance coverage remained relatively flat quarter-over-quarter, Gallup said in a recent report.

According to Gallup, 17.3 percent of U.S. adults had no health insurance coverage in the first quarter (Q1) of 2012. This comes after Gallup reported 17.5 percent without health insurance in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2011, and 17.3 percent and 17.4 percent uninsured in the third quarter (Q3) of 2011 and second quarter (Q2) of 2011, respectively.

Uninsured rare for youngest age group flattens

The percentage of 18- to 25-year-old U.S. adults without health insurance coverage came in at 24.5 percent in this most recent Gallup data (for Q1 2012), which is relatively consistent with the numbers seen in recent quarters. The uninsured rate for the 18- to 25-year-old age group was 24.2 percent in Q4 2011.

According to Gallup, this percentage dropped sharply from around the 28 percent mark in the late 2010 / early 2011 after the healthcare law provision that permitted adults up to age 26 to stay on a parent’s health insurance plan went into effect.

Employer-based health insurance stays down

Among other results seen in the latest data, employer-based health insurance coverage stayed on a downward trend. The percentage of U.S. adults who obtain health insurance through an employer came in at 44.5 percent in Q1 2012.

This is down from the 44.9 percent mark seen near the middle of 2011, the 46.0 percent mark seen near mid-2010, the 46.5 percent mark seen in the middle of 2009 and the 49.3 percent mark seen in mid-2008.

The results mentioned here are based on a random sample of telephone interviews conducted by Gallup between January 2 and March 30, 2012.

Posted in: Insurance

Insurance News: This article was published on 4-26-2012 at 2:34 pm.

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