Portion of Insured Americans Reached 92% in 2023, Census Data Reveals

By Amina Niasse

NEW YORK – The proportion of Americans who had health insurance for all or part of 2023 was 92%, a slight decrease from 92.1% in 2022, according to a report from the Census Bureau.

The rate of coverage through private insurers was 65.4%, indicating modest increases in Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace plans and Tricare coverage for military personnel. However, employment-based coverage fell by 0.7%, reaching 53.7% in 2023 compared to the previous year.

The Census Bureau noted that the overall change in health insurance coverage from 2022 to 2023 was not statistically significant.

A separate report from the Congressional Budget Office, released in June, projected that the uninsured rate in America is expected to climb to 8.9% over the next decade from 7.7% in 2024, primarily due to federal policy changes and rising immigration.

Among Americans aged 19 to 25, the uninsured rate was the highest, reaching 14.1% in 2023. This demographic often faces ineligibility for government-sponsored plans and has lower rates of employer-provided coverage.

Medicare, which provides coverage for adults aged 65 and older, accounted for 18.9% of insurance coverage in 2023, reflecting an increase in the senior population.

Additionally, the uninsured rate among Hispanic adults slightly increased to 23.6% in 2023 from 23.4% in 2022, which is more than three times the uninsured rate for white adults.