Health Insurance Coverage: Early Release of Estimates From the National Health Interview Survey, January–March 2015

A new report from NCHS presents selected estimates of health insurance coverage for the civilian noninstitutionalized U.S. population based on data from the January–March 2015 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), along with comparable estimates from the 2010–2014 NHIS. Estimates for 2015 are based on data for 26,121 persons.

Key Findings from the Report:

• The number of uninsured personscontinued to decline from 2013. Inthe first 3 months of 2015, 29million persons of all ages (9.2%)were uninsured at the time ofinterview, 7 million fewer personsthan in 2014.
• Among adults aged 18–64, thepercentage uninsured decreasedfrom 16.3% in 2014 to 13.0% inthe first 3 months of 2015. Therewas a corresponding increase inprivate coverage, from 67.3% to70.4%.
• Among children under age 18years, the percentage with privatecoverage increased from 52.6% in2013 to 56.3% in the first 3 monthsof 2015, reversing a 14-year trendof declining rates of privatecoverage.
• Among those under age 65, thepercentage with private coveragethrough the Health InsuranceMarketplace or state-basedexchanges increased from 2.5%(6.7 million) in the last 3 months of2014 to 3.6% (9.7 million) in thefirst 3 months of 2015.