Uninsured rate increased in Wyoming under the ACA

There is wide variation across states in how effectively the Affordable Care Act has reduced the uninsured population, according to a Vox analysis of Gallup data. The findings are perhaps most surprising in Wyoming — where the uninsured population actually grew 9.6 percent.

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Wyoming was the only state to see the number of uninsured grow between 2013 and the first half of 2015, according to the report. On the other end of the spectrum, Rhode Island led efforts to reduce the uninsured, with a 79.9 percent decline.

Here are a few of the key findings from the analysis.

1. Medicaid expansion, unsurprisingly, is associated with faster declines in uninsured rates. The top 10 states with the fastest decline in uninsured population expanded Medicaid. Nine of the 10 states with the slowest, or no, improvement did not expand Medicaid, according to Vox.

2. There were a few anomalies, though. South Dakota was one — it reported the 11th fastest decline in uninsured, but did not expand Medicaid and did not create a state exchange, according to Vox.

3. Delaware is another anomaly. It did expand Medicaid, but was the second worst performer — to Wyoming — in reducing the uninsured population. It managed to reduce the uninsured rate just 5.7 percent. According to the report, this is likely because Delaware had a good head start. The state already had fairly inclusive Medicaid policies, so the expansion made a smaller change.

4. Wyoming, the only state where the uninsured population actually grew, has some of the highest premiums in the country. This may have contributed to this growth, according to the report. However, Alaska has even higher premiums and managed to reduce the uninsured rate by 45.5 percent.

Read the full report here.

 

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