Although 12.7 million people signed up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act in 2016, tens of millions of individuals are still going without healthcare coverage, according to The Hill.
Approximately 30 million U.S. citizens are still uninsured. These individuals fit into three primary categories, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Roughly 10 percent live in states that haven't expanded Medicaid, about 15 percent aren't eligible due to their immigration status and half are eligible for coverage but haven't enrolled.
Despite these problems, some healthcare experts believe the uninsured rate stems from other problems. "The challenge is really middle-income people," said Caroline Pearson, senior vice president at Avalere Health, a consulting firm. "They feel like the coverage is too expensive and they just can't afford it."
Additionally, others believe there is still progress to be made in terms of uninsured rates.
"We're unlikely to see the kind of tremendous reactions to the uninsured that happened in 2014," said Larry Levitt, senior vice president for special initiatives at the Kaiser Family Foundation. "The [Affordable Care Act] has reduced the share of people uninsured to the lowest levels ever recorded, but we are still well short of universal coverage."