Types of health insurance for the U.S. population

The U.S. Census Bureau this month published its report “Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2021.”

The report stated last year, 91.7% of the U.S. population had some form of health insurance, so the national uninsured rate was 8.3%. The uninsured rate decreased by 0.4 percentage points from 2020, according to the Census Bureau.

The Census Bureau figures may not be surprising. In August, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published its estimates of national health insurance rates, with the uninsured rate dropping to a record low 8% in the first quarter of 2022. But the Census Bureau figures confirmed the downward trend for uninsured people, and rising enrollment in some form of health insurance.

The report did not specifically mention the COVID-19 pandemic or how it affected health insurance costs, availability, or enrollment. The Census Bureau stated changes from 2020 to 2021 likely came about from several factors including:

• Economic recovery from the 2020 recession
• The American Rescue Plan Act, which subsidized health insurance for people enrolling through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace and state-based marketplaces
• Medicaid expansion that happened in Nebraska at the start of 2021

Here is a slideshow with U.S. Census Bureau findings about what types of health insurance coverage people had across the United States in 2021.