Yet Again, Obamacare Is Still Working

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The latest HHS estimates of the uninsured rate are out, and you’ll be unsurprised that they show Obamacare continuing to work pretty well. The chart on the right shows the drop in the uninsured rate since the end of 2013, and everyone has done fairly well. The Hispanic rate of uninsurance has dropped by a quarter; the white rate by half; and the black rate by more than half.

Overall, HHS estimates that 20 million nonelderly adults have gained health insurance since 2013. Women have gained insurance at a bit higher rate than men. HHS estimates that 13.6 percent of men remain uninsured compared to 9.5 percent of women.

The chart on the bottom shows the overall uninsured rate using a variety of measures. The story is pretty much the same no matter whose numbers you use: there are way more Americans with health insurance today than there were three years ago. What’s more, premiums have stayed steady and the total program cost is under budget. If this is a disaster, we could use a few more disasters like it.

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

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