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In the new statement CBPP President Bob Greenstein lays out what we can learn from today’s Census Bureau release of data on poverty, income, and health insurance rates:
The official poverty rate fell for the fourth consecutive year in 2018, from 12.3 percent in 2017 to 11.8 percent in 2018, and median income remained statistically unchanged at $63,179.
But the number and share of Americans without health insurance took a turn for the worse. The percentage of people who are uninsured rose in both of the Census surveys, the first time this has happened in both since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
This backsliding almost certainly reflects – at least in part – Trump Administration policies to weaken public health coverage. While the uninsured rate remains far below its pre-ACA level, the gains achieved through the ACA will entirely disappear if the Administration ultimately succeeds in its continued efforts to repeal the law through legislation and the courts.
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