Affordable Care Act slashed the uninsured rate among people with diabetes

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-09/uow-aca092019.php

News Release 23-Sep-2019
University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provided health insurance for an estimated 1.9 million people with diabetes, according to a newly published study.

In 2009 and 2010, 17 percent of adults who were under the age of 65 and had diabetes were uninsured. After the ACA took effect, that percentage declined by 12 percentage points and by 27 percentage points among those with low income.

Coverage gains were particularly strong among people whose diabetes was undiagnosed. In 2009 and 2010, approximately one in four adults under age 65 with undiagnosed diabetes lacked health insurance coverage. After the ACA was implemented, the uninsured rate in this group dropped by 17 percentage points to eight percent.

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The researchers estimate that, of the 1.9 million people with diabetes who gained coverage under the ACA, 1.2 million had low income (defined in the study as below 138 percent of the federal poverty level).

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