8.5 percent of population lacked health insurance for all of 2018, up from 7.9 percent in 2017
TUESDAY, Sept. 10, 2019 (HealthDay News) — The percentage of Americans living in poverty declined in 2018, but the rate of those without health insurance increased, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report.
The authors of the report found that 11.8 percent of people lived in poverty last year, the lowest level since 2001. Median household income in 2018 was $63,200, essentially the same as in 2017 after adjusting for inflation, The New York Times reported.
Meanwhile, about 27.5 million people (8.5 percent of the population) lacked health insurance for all of 2018, up from 7.9 percent in 2017, which was the first increase since the Affordable Care Act took full effect in 2014.
“In a period of continued economic growth, continued job growth, you would certainly hope that you wouldn’t be going backwards when it comes to insurance coverage,” Sharon Parrott, senior vice president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told The Times.
Copyright © 2019 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
