Polls Show Number of Uninsured Adults Lowest Since Obama Took Office

The deadline to enroll on the new insurance exchanges is quickly approaching, with just three weeks remaining. The deadline seems to be spurring a dramatic up-tick in the number of adults enrolling in health insurance plans. Acording to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index released Monday the number of Americans with no health insurance has dropped to the lowest levels since President Obama was sworn in. The index found that the percent of uninsured adults dropped from 17.1-percent in the last quarter of 2013 to 15.9-percent in 2014. Experts attribute the increasing number of insured adults to the insurance plans made available by the Affordable Care Act.

The increase in enrollment was found across all demographic groups examined by the index. Hoewver, enrollment throughout the Latino demographic lagged behind other demographic groups. This is notable because the Obama Administration is actively reaching out to the relatively young Hispanic community to encourage enrollment. 

A significant drop in the rate of uninsured adults occurred among African-Americans with a 2.6 percentage point decline. The rate declined 1percentage point among white adults, but only eight-tenths of a percentage point for Latinos. The largest drop in the uninsured rate was a 2.8 percentage point difference for households with an annual income of less than $36,000.