The problems in the Affordable Care Act private exchange market may have hammered moderately broke U.S. adults this year.
The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention has come out with new tables that break out the uninsured rate numbers by age and income group. One tables shows what happened to adults ages 18 to 64.
For all adults in that age group, the total uninsured rate fell to 12.1% during the first three months of 2017, from 12.4% in the first quarter of 2016.
This is how the uninsured rate data looked when CDC analysts reported separate uninsured rates for each income group:
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Iincome under 100% of the federal poverty level, or $24,600 for a family of four in most of the country: The uninsured rate fell to 22.6%, from 24.7%.
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Income from 100% to 138% of the federal poverty level: The uninsured rate fell to 23.9%, from 24.7%.
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Iincome from 138% to 250% of the federal poverty level: The uninsured rate rose to 21.3%, from 19.1%.
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Income from 250% to 400% of the federal poverty level: The uninsured rate rose to 12.3%, from 9.7%.
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Income over 400% of the federal poverty level: The uninsured rate fell to 3.5%, from 3.7%.
The CDC analysts based the uninsured rate numbers on results from the National Health Interview Survey. A copy of the full results is available here.
Adults in each income group face different types of decisions about whether to buy major medical coverage.
Income Group Differences
Most people with income income under 100% of the federal poverty level, and many people with income under 138% of the federal poverty level, can qualify for Medicaid.
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Most people with income from 138% to 250% of the federal poverty level can qualify for both ACA premium tax credit subsidies and for ACA cost-sharing reduction subsidies, which help low-income people pay their deductibles and coinsurance bills.
Most people with income from 250% to 400% of the federal poverty qualify only for a modest amount of ACA premium tax credit help.
People with income over 400% of the federal poverty level qualify for now ACA exchange plan subsidies. They may have to pay the penalty that the ACA imposes on many people who fail to own what the ACA classifies as solid major medical coverage, or minimum essential coverage, for enough of the year.
The CDC analysts did not talk about whether changes in the ACA exchange market explained the increase in the uninsured rate for people with income from 138% to 400% of the federal poverty level.
