The percentage of Americans without health insurance hit an all-time low

pulse

May 16, 2017 8:22 PM

9.0% of Americans did not have health insurance in 2016. That was down slightly from 9.1% in 2015 and down from 16.0% in 2010.

Medical students and residents during daily rounds at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 2015.

The percentage of Americans that did not have health insurance coverage set another record low in 2016.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health Interview Survey, 9.0% of Americans did not have health insurance in 2016. That was down slightly from 9.1% in 2015 and down from 16.0% in 2010.

The drop was also more pronounced for Americans between the ages of 18 and 64.

"From 1997 through 2013, the percentage of adults aged 18-64 who were uninsured at the time of interview generally increased," said the CDC report. "More recently, the percentage of uninsured adults aged 18–64 decreased, from 20.4% in 2013 to 12.4% in 2016."

In terms of income, the CDC reported there was "no significant change in the percentage uninsured" among low-income Americans between 2015 and 2016, but the most recent numbers confirmed the precipitous drop since 2010 for that group.

"A decrease was noted in the percentage of uninsured adults from 2010 through 2016 among all three poverty status groups," said the report. "However, the greatest decreases in the uninsured rate since 2013 were among adults who were poor or near poor."

The decline since 2010 corresponds with the passage of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

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