The percentage of Americans without health insurance has fallen from 18 percent before the implementation of the Affordable Care Act to a new low of 11.9 percent, a Gallup poll says. Obamacare is is a major factor in the drop, but may not be the only one, Gallup writes:
An improving economy and a falling unemployment rate may also have accelerated the steep drop in the percentage of uninsured over the past year. However, the uninsured rate is significantly lower than it was in early 2008, before the depths of the economic recession, suggesting that the recent decline is due to more than just an improving economy.
The biggest gains in coverage were found among low-income and Hispanic Americans. According to the Obama administration’s most recent calculation, 16 million Americans have become covered by health insurance because of the Affordable Care Act. (Approximately 7.5 million could lose insurance subsidies, however, if the Supreme Court rules against the administration in the case of King v. Burwell.)
Gallup’s poll covers 43,500 adults surveyed during the first three months of 2015.
