Thank you, Chairman Hatch, Senator Wyden, and members of the Committee, for this invitation to testify on the Affordable Care Act at five years. Research from The Commonwealth Fund and other sources demonstrate that the Affordable Care Act is helping to reduce the number of Americans who are uninsured and improving access to health care.
Currently, more than 25 million people are estimated to have health insurance under the provisions of the ACA. About 11.7 million have selected a plan through the insurance marketplaces―8.8 million through the federal website healthcare.gov and 2.8 million through state-based marketplaces. An additional 10.8 million have enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. Finally, nearly 3 million more young adults are covered under their parent’s plan compared to 2010.
As a result, the number of uninsured adults has fallen. This week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that 16.4 million previously uninsured people had gained coverage since the law passed in 2010. Similar gains in coverage have been documented in a number of government and private-sector surveys. Furthermore, groups that historically have been most likely to lack insurance—young men and women, and adults with low or moderate incomes—have experienced among the greatest gains in coverage. These gains have occurred across racial and ethnic groups.