Covid Aid Drove Down Uninsured And Poverty Rates To New Lows
The Census Bureau reports that 8.3% of Americans were not covered by some form of health insurance in 2021. Federal pandemic policies that eased Medicaid eligibility and subsidized ACA premiums were largely responsible. The poverty rate also dropped, especially among kids, thanks largely to the child tax credit. The improvements may be temporary, though, when aid programs expire.
NPR:
Poverty And Uninsured Rates Drop, Thanks To Pandemic-Era Policies
The census numbers show 8.3% of Americans – or 27.2 million people – did not have any health insurance in 2021. That's an improvement from 2020, when 8.6% of people were uninsured. The force behind this trend is Medicaid, the public health insurance option for people with low incomes, according to census officials who briefed reporters Tuesday. (Simmons-Duffin and Ludden, 9/13)
Axios:
The Uninsured Rate Of Americans Remains Relatively Steady
The number of Americans without health insurance fell by a million people in 2021, according to U.S. Census Bureau data published yesterday. Why it matters: Despite COVID-19 and the economic uncertainty it spawned, the uninsured rate remained stable due to enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies and the Medicaid continuous coverage provisions Congress enacted in response to the pandemic. (Knight, 9/14)
The New York Times:
Pandemic Aid Cut U.S. Poverty To New Low In 2021, Census Bureau Reports
A second year of emergency pandemic aid from the federal government drove poverty to the lowest level on record in 2021 and cut the number of poor children by nearly half, the Census Bureau reported on Tuesday. The poverty rate fell to 7.8 percent, down from 9.2 percent the previous year, according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure, a yardstick that includes wages, taxes and the fullest account of government aid. (DePillis and DeParle, 9/13)
Center On Budget And Policy Priorities:
In Pandemic’s Second Year, Government Policies Helped Drive Child Poverty Rate To A Record Low, Cut Uninsured Rate, New Census Data Show
Today’s Census figures show government policies prevented massively higher financial hardship and lack of health insurance in 2021, as the nation continued to wrestle with the COVID-19 pandemic and recover from the resulting job loss. (Parrott, 9/13)
