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

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

Estimates for 2015 are based on data for 79,847 persons.

Findings:

• The number of uninsured persons has declined in the past 2 years. In the first 9 months of 2015, 28.8 million persons of all ages (9.1%) were uninsured at the time of interview—7.2 million fewer persons than in 2014 and 16.0 million fewer than in 2013.
• Among adults aged 18–64, the percentage uninsured decreased from 16.3% in 2014 to 12.9% in the first 9 months of 2015. A corresponding increase was seen in the percentage with private coverage, from 67.3% to 70.0%, respectively. In 2013, among adults aged 18–64, 20.4% were uninsured and 64.2% had private coverage.
• Among children under age 18 years, the percentage with private coverage increased from 52.6% in 2013 to 55.1% in the first 9 months of 2015.
• Among those under age 65, the percentage with private coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace or state-based exchanges increased from 2.5% (6.7 million) in the fourth quarter of 2014 to 4.2% (11.3 million) in the third quarter of 2015 (July–September).