Census: Uninsured rate drops to 9.1% in 2015

An estimated 29 million U.S. residents lacked health insurance for the entire year in 2015, 4 million fewer than in 2014, the Census Bureau reported today. The share of residents without health insurance for the year fell by 1.3 percentage points to 9.1% due to increases in both private and public coverage. Coverage increased for most racial and Hispanic-origin groups and for all ages under 65. Hispanics had both the largest coverage increase at 3.6 percentage points and the highest uninsured rate at 16.2%. The uninsured rate dropped in all but three states (North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming), with the largest decline in California (3.9 percentage points). The report is based on the Current Population Survey and American Community Survey and includes comparisons with the previous year. Local health coverage estimates from the ACS will be released on Thursday.