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New York Ranks 14th In U.S. In Uninsured After Obamacare

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y.  -- New York ranks 14th in the nation in the number of uninsured after the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, according to WalletHub.

New York ranks 14th in the nation in the number of uninsured after the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, according to WalletHub

New York ranks 14th in the nation in the number of uninsured after the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, according to WalletHub

Photo Credit: File photo

In New York, 10.16 percent of the population lacks health insurance, according to the Health Insurance Coverage Report distributed by WalletHub. Obamacare reduced the uninsured rate by 3.23 percentage points in one year.

The WalletHub report said 370,451 individuals enrolled in private health insurance plans under Obamacare, and 324,647 individuals enrolled in Medicaid between September 2013 and April 2014.

Massachusetts had the smallest percentage of uninsured residents, 1.2  percent, a drop of 3.16 percentage points after Obamacare became the law. Rhode Island (5.6 percent) was second, followed by the District of Columbia (6.29 percent).

In Texas, 24.81 of its residents were still without health care coverage, according to the WalletHub report. That figure led the nation, while Mississippi (21.46 percent) and Louisiana (20.91 percent) also were high in the number of uninsured.

“All the evidence to date shows that the Affordable Care Act is significantly reducing the number of the uninsured,’’ said Timothy S. Jost of the Washington and Lee University School of Law. “Polling data indicates that the number of uninsured has been reduced by 5 (million) to 9 million.”

David Hogberg of the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank, was less enthusiastic. “It appears to be having very modest success so far,’’ he said. “By my rough calculations it has, at best, reduced the number uninsured in the private market by about 1.8 million to 3.1 million, far short of 6 (million) to 7 million predicted by the CBO and White House. As for Medicaid, there is probably some reduction there as well, but at this point we do not have accurate numbers on that.”

The complete WalletHub report is online.

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