More Black Americans Insured Under the ACA, But Disparities Remain

According to a recent report by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the percentage of uninsured Black Americans has decreased since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) became law in 2010.

In 2011, there were 7.1 million Black individuals aged younger than 65 years without health insurance nationwide, representing about 20% of the Black population. That number had dropped to 4.4 million, or 12%, as of 2019.

However, this progress was more substantial in states that expanded Medicaid. About 37% of uninsured Black Americans live in Florida, Georgia, and Texas—states that declined to expand Medicaid eligibility under the ACA. If all 12 holdout states opted to expand the program, nearly 1 million Black Americans would be newly eligible for health insurance, the report found.

While the ACA has improved access and coverage overall, racial and ethnic disparities remain. While just 7 to 8% of White people lacked health insurance in 2019, 22% of American Indian and Alaska Natives, 20% of Latinos, and 12% of Black Americans were uninsured.

For example, about 96% of patients served by Family Health Centers of Georgia are Black people who “work and make enough to survive but not enough to afford insurance,” according to president of the federally qualified health center Michael W. Brooks, MD. The HHS report found that the cost of obtaining health insurance is still a barrier to care for Black patients, with their concerns about cost greater than those expressed by White Americans.

Source: The Washington Post, February 23, 2022.