HHS reports on health insurance coverage and access trends among Black Americans

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued the following issue brief (HP-2024-14) on June 7, 2024, entitled "Health Insurance Coverage and Access to Care Among Black Americans: Recent Trends and Key Challenges."

Here are the key points:

* Between 2010 and 2022, the uninsured rate among Black Americans under age 65 fell nearly in half, decreasing from 20.9 percent to 10.8 percent. Holding the total Black population constant at 2022 levels, this implies a 3.3 million increase in the number of Black Americans with health insurance coverage. Accounting for population growth, the number of Black Americans with health insurance coverage increased by 3.4 million.

* The 10-percentage point decline in the uninsured rate was driven by increases across all sources of coverage: Employment based, Direct Purchase (e.g., Marketplace), and Medicaid.

* In 2010, the uninsured rate for Black Americans was nearly 8 percentage points higher than the rate for White Americans. By 2022, the gap was down to 4 percentage points.

* The American Rescue Plan (ARP) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) significantly expanded and enhanced tax credits for purchasing health insurance through the ACA Marketplaces. This plus a major investment in Navigator funding, outreach and education led to a 95 percent increase in Marketplace enrollment among Black Americans from 2020 to 2023, with 1.7 million Black Americans enrolled in Marketplace coverage in 2023.

* The three states with the largest Black populations--Texas, Florida, and Georgia--have not implemented the ACA Medicaid expansion.

* While access to care improved for Black Americans between 2010 and 2022, disparities in affordability of health care between Black and White Americans persist.

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View full version at: https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/4fc0ddbcee8d583d57e399dad6201536/aspe-coverage-access-black-americans-ib.pdf