Overall, 8.8 percent of U.S. population uninsured in 2016

(HealthDay)—Overall, 8.8 percent of individuals of all ages were uninsured in the first nine months of 2016, which marked a nonsignificant reduction from 2015, according to a Feb. 14 report from the National Center for Health Statistics.

Michael E. Martinez, M.P.H., from the National Center for Health Statistics, used data from the 2016 National Health Interview Survey for 38 states to estimate health insurance coverage for the civilian noninstitutionalized U.S. population. Estimates for 2016 were based on data for 73,223 individuals.

The researchers found that 28.2 million (8.8 percent) individuals of all ages were uninsured in the first nine months of 2016; this was 20.4 million fewer individuals than in 2010 and 0.4 million fewer individuals than in 2015 (a nonsignificant difference), respectively. Among adults aged 18 to 64 years, 12.3, 20.3, and 69 percent were uninsured, had public coverage, and had private health insurance coverage, respectively, in the first nine months of 2016. The corresponding proportions were 5, 43.4, and 53.5 percent, respectively, among children aged 0 to 17 years. Among adults aged 18 to 64 years, there was no significant change in the percentage with private coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace or state-based exchanges, from 4.9 to 4.8 percent in the third quarter of 2015 and 2016, respectively.

"The percentage of persons under age 65 with private insurance enrolled in a high-deductible health plan increased, from 36.7 percent in 2015 to 39.1 percent in the first nine months of 2016," the authors write.