Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2022 (2024)

FAQs

How much of the US is covered by health insurance? ›

In 2022, most people (92.1 percent) had health insurance coverage at some point during the calendar year (Table 1 and Figure 1). That means 7.9 percent of people were uninsured for the entire calendar year.

Highlights. More people were insured in 2022 than 2021. In 2022, 92.1 percent of people, or 304.0 million, had health insurance at some point during the year, representing an increase in the insured rate and number of insured from 2021 (91.7 percent or 300.9 million).

Health insurance isn't mandatory at the federal level for adults, but the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) mandates that individuals have health insurance or pay a penalty unless they qualify for an exemption. Some states also have their own individual mandates.

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is a national federation of independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. Healthcare coverage is one of the most important decisions you make. Choose the card that opens doors in all 50 states.

Average annual health insurance premiums in 2023 are $8,435 for single coverage and $23,968 for family coverage. These average premiums each increased 7% in 2023. The average family premium has increased 22% since 2018 and 47% since 2013.

There is no universal healthcare.

The U.S. government does not provide health benefits to citizens or visitors. Any time you get medical care, someone has to pay for it.

Fifty-one percent of working-age Americans struggle to afford their health care and about one of three (32%) are saddled with medical debt, according to findings from a Commonwealth Fund survey released today.

uninsurance has been attributed to a number of factors, including rising health care costs, the economic downturn, an erosion of employer-based insurance, and public program cutbacks. Developing effective strategies for reducing uninsurance requires understanding why people lack insurance coverage.

If you don't have health insurance, you're at much greater risk of accumulating medical bills that you may not be able to pay. In a worst-case scenario, you could be sued and have your wages garnished. You might even be forced into bankruptcy.

Can you live in USA without health insurance? ›

There currently is no federal law that makes health insurance a legal requirement. However, a few states across the U.S. make it mandatory to have healthcare coverage. If you live in a state where having health insurance is the law, you will have to pay a tax penalty for not complying.

New Jersey, California, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia require their residents to have health insurance coverage or face penalties. Vermont recommends that residents have coverage, but there's no noncompliance penalty.

Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provide free or low-cost health coverage to some low-income people, families and children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Some states expanded their Medicaid programs to cover all people below certain income levels.

Texas was the state with the highest percentage of uninsured among its population, while Massachusetts reported the lowest share of uninsured This statistic presents the percentage of the total population in the United States without health insurance in 2021, by state.

The Share of Americans without Health Insurance in 2022 Matched a Record Low. In 2022, 26 million people — or 7.9 percent of the population – were uninsured, according to a report in September 2023 from the Census Bureau.

U.S. health care spending grew 4.1 percent in 2022, reaching $4.5 trillion or $13,493 per person. As a share of the nation's Gross Domestic Product, health spending accounted for 17.3 percent. For additional information, see below.

Government insurance programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, made up 45 percent, or $1.9 trillion, of national healthcare spending. Private insurance programs, including employer-provided health insurance as well as plans purchased through the Affordable Care Act, accounted for 30 percent, or about $1.3 trillion.

About 86% of U.S. private-sector employees worked for establishments that offered employer-sponsored health insurance, according to a 3-year average based on 2020-2022 data collected by the Insurance Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS-IC).