Healthcare reforms scheduled for implementation in 2014 could make insurance more affordable for low- and middle-income Americans currently lacking it.
About 57 percent of people in low-income families lacked health insurance coverage for part of the past year, according to research by The Commonwealth Fund. More than one-third were uninsured for two years or longer. Among middle-income families, only 36 and 18 percent, respectively, were uninsured for part of the year or for the past two years.
When researchers examined families with incomes at or above $89,400 for a family of four, however, they found 12 percent lacked insurance for part of the year and just 3 percent went without insurance for two years or longer.
"People with low and moderate incomes run the highest risk of lacking job-based health insurance, are least able to afford health insurance on their own, and are the most at risk of not being able to afford care in the absence of coverage," said Commonwealth Fund vice president Sara Collins, the report's lead author. "Consequently, problems getting needed care in the United States are disproportionately concentrated among low- and moderate-income families."
The researchers project that healthcare law provisions should reduce this income gap in insurance coverage by making it easier for individuals to afford insurance, and helping employers extend employee benefits to more Americans.
