The number of poor Americans who were uninsured declined in 2014, according to The New York Times.
The National Health Interview Survey, a long-running federal survey consider to be a gold standard by researchers, shows the impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's extension of coverage to millions of Americans in 2014.
As the Supreme Court nears a decision on King v. Burwell, a ruling against the government would eliminate a large share of subsidies that have allowed lower-income people to afford health insurance. However, the poor also benefited from the subsidies and from an expansion of Medicaid. While more than 20 states refused to expand the Medicaid program due to the high percentage of people that were uninsured, experts believe the gains would have been even larger had they done so.
African-Americans under 65 made the biggest coverage gains, and Hispanics in the same age group also benefited. The number of whites who were uninsured fell to 9.8 percent from 12.1 percent in 2013.
"The law has had a more pronounced effect in covering African-Americans than whites," said Larry Levitt, a director at the Program for the Study of Health Reform and Private Insurance at the Kaiser Family Foundation. "If all states were expanding Medicaid, you'd see an even bigger effect."
Overall, approximately 32 percent of poor Americans were uninsured in 2014, down from 39 percent in 2013. The number of uninsured nearly poor Americans declined from 39 percent to 31 percent. The percentage of all other uninsured Americans declined from 11 percent to 9 percent.
According to Mr. Levitt, the law has had a greater effect on the long-term uninsured. The share of Americans uninsured for more than a year dropped from 12.4 percent to 9.7 percent.