Uninsured rates nationwide were mostly unchanged in 2020 because of the ACA and federal relief. States that did not expand Medicaid reported the highest uninsured rates. The national average was 12.4 percent.
Though federal data does show a decline in uninsured rates in early 2021, they may go back up in the following few years. The temporary “continuous eligibility” Medicaid requirement ends when the federal public health emergency does, leading to as many as 15.8 million people losing Medicaid coverage. Furthermore, the American Rescue Plan Act’s premium tax credits for ACA plans will expire at the end of this year without a congressional extension. Without an extension, up to 3 million people could lose coverage.
States ranked by uninsured rates in 2020, which includes ties:
- Texas: 23.6 percent
- Oklahoma: 21.7 percent
- Georgia: 18.7 percent
- Florida: 18.3 percent
- Mississippi: 17.4 percent
- Wyoming: 16.4 percent
- Nevada: 16.1 percent
- North Carolina: 15.7 percent
- Alaska: 15.5 percent
South Carolina: 15.5 percent
- Arizona: 15.4 percent
- Alabama: 15 percent
- Tennessee: 14.6 percent
- Missouri: 14.3 percent
- South Dakota: 14.2 percent
- Idaho: 13.7 percent
New Mexico: 13.7 percent
- Kansas: 13.3 percent
- Arkansas: 12.7 percent
- Louisiana: 12 percent
- Montana: 11.8 percent
- Nebraska: 11.4 percent
- Colorado: 11.3 percent
- Maine: 10.8 percent
Utah: 10.8 percent
- West Virginia: 10.6 percent
- New Jersey: 10.5 percent
- Illinois: 10.4 percent
- Virginia: 10.1 percent
- California: 10 percent
- Indiana: 9.9 percent
- Delaware: 9.5 percent
- Oregon: 9.4 percent
- Ohio: 9.3 percent
- Washington: 9.2 percent
- North Dakota: 9 percent
- New Hampshire: 8.9 percent
- Pennsylvania: 8.2 percent
- Kentucky: 8 percent
Maryland: 8 percent
- Michigan: 7.8 percent
- Wisconsin: 7.6 percent
- New York: 7.4 percent
- Iowa: 7.2 percent
- Minnesota: 6.9 percent
- Vermont: 6.5 percent
- Connecticut: 6.4 percent
- Hawaii: 5.4 percent
- Rhode Island: 5 percent
- District of Columbia: 4.3 percent
- Massachusetts: 3.6 percent
