Nearly half of uninsured eligible for financial assistance to gain health coverage

Ayla Ellison -

Forty-nine percent of the 32.3 million nonelderly people in the U.S. who lacked health coverage as of the beginning of 2015 are eligible for financial assistance to gain coverage through either Medicaid or subsidized coverage under the Affordable Care Act, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report.

Of the uninsured population, 17 percent are adults eligible for Medicaid, and 10 percent are children eligible for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program. Approximately 22 percent of the nonelderly uninsured are eligible for premium tax credits to purchase health coverage through the marketplace, according to the report.

Ten percent of the remaining uninsured fall into the coverage gap due to their state's decision not to expand Medicaid, and 15 percent are undocumented immigrants who are ineligible for ACA coverage under federal law.

The remaining uninsured either have an offer of employer-sponsored insurance (15 percent) or an income above the limit for premium tax credits but could purchase unsubsidized marketplace coverage (12 percent), according to the report.

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