In 2014 — after most of the Affordable Care Act went into effect — the share of people without health insurance dropped from 14.5% to 11.7%. Since then, the share of people in the United States without health insurance has reached as low as 8.6% (in both 2016 and 2021), but gaps in coverage persist among certain racial and ethnic groups.
Disparities in coverage are influenced by a variety of factors, such as differences in income, occupation, poverty levels, location, and age. Federal and state policies can also affect access to healthcare.
