While such minorities as white Hispanics, Native Americans and Alaska Natives are expected to see dramatic increases in health care coverage as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), African Americans have been less likely to see these benefits, according to a recent study from the Urban Institute.
The primary reason for this disparity is that African Americans disproportionately live in states that have not expanded Medicaid, according to the study. 1.4 million uninsured blacks live in the eligibility gap—and they constitute 23.1 percent of the black adult uninsured adult population nationwide.
Without the ACA, Latinos are projected to have the highest uninsurance rate in 2016 (31.2 percent), followed by American Indian/Alaska Natives (25.7 percent), blacks (19.6 percent) and Asian/Pacific Islanders (17.3 percent). Whites have the lowest uninsurance rate without the ACA at 13.1 percent.
The ACA with current Medicaid expansion decisions is projected to lead to large reductions in uninsurance rates for all racial/ethnic groups. The rank order of uninsurance rates across racial/ethnic groups is projected to be unchanged: Latinos still with the highest (19.0 percent), followed by American Indian/Alaska Natives (13.0 percent) and blacks (11.3 percent). The lowest uninsurance rates are still projected to be among Asian/Pacific Islanders (8.9 percent) and whites (6.3 percent).
