Stability in U.S. Health Insurance Coverage in 2025 Amid Policy Shifts

According to new findings from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the percentage of Americans without health insurance remained at about 8% in 2025. The national survey results, released on Thursday, indicate that the uninsured rate has significantly decreased from past years. However, potential changes could arise as the Trump administration’s health policy adjustments take effect.

In 2024, the government enacted extensive modifications to Medicaid, a key health program for low-income people. The Congressional Budget Office estimates these changes might add 10 million uninsured individuals over a decade. Furthermore, as certain Affordable Care Act subsidies expired, more people are opting out of marketplace health programs. The nonprofit healthcare research group KFF projects a decrease of around 5 million people in such plans for 2026 compared to 2025.

Several government programs track Americans’ insurance status. These programs sometimes provide varied statistics due to differences in timing and question phrasing. Many experts, including Emory University health policy professor David Howard, consider the U.S. Census Bureau as reliable. Despite this, the CDC survey closely aligns with the Census data, offering the first complete figures for 2025, the start of President Donald Trump’s second term.

The Trump administration aims to broaden access to low-cost catastrophic health plans and reduce drug prices for those uninsured. It also associates declining insurance enrollments with the removal of fraudulent or ineligible enrollees, not the exclusion of eligible individuals.

Although the percentages for insured and uninsured remained largely the same from the previous year, the uninsured count increased by about 800,000, including 300,000 children. The expanding U.S. population accounts for this rise.

Survey results also note a potential increase in the insured rate among Hispanic Americans. However, this could partially result from immigration policies under the Trump administration, with possibly uninsured individuals departing the country.

Most Americans aged 65 and above have Medicare coverage, while younger people rely on a mix of public and private insurance options. Historically, the uninsured rate for those under 65 grew from 12% in 1980 to over 18% by 2010. The Affordable Care Act led to a decrease, dropping to nearly 10% by 2016, and slightly increasing to about 11-12% in Trump’s first term. The COVID-19 pandemic brought policies preserving coverage, reducing the uninsured rate to its lowest in 2023, dipping below 9%.

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