US uninsured numbers expected to decrease by 2021 while Medicare enrollments will rise
The U.S. uninsured population is expected to decrease to 26.9 million individuals in 2021, according to a report recently released by Freedonia Focus Reports and titled Healthcare Insurance: United States. Factors contributing to the decline include continued improvements in the labor market, which helps individuals gain private coverage; uninsured persons reaching the age of 65 and qualifying for Medicare; continued gains in Medicaid enrollment; and some gains in the direct purchase sector, including policies from the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Medicare enrollment, in particular, is forecast to outpace gains in Medicaid and private healthcare insurance as the number of persons 65 years of age and older is projected to rise 3.3% per year between 2016 and 2021 – more than four times as fast as the total population.
The report also forecasts US healthcare insurance coverage and healthcare funding in US dollars to 2021. Total healthcare insurance coverage is provided in terms of the number of persons insured and uninsured. Also, forecast to 2021 is the number of persons enrolled in the following major insurance types:
- employer-sponsored private insurance
- direct-purchase private insurance
- Medicaid
- Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
- Medicare
Because a person’s healthcare insurance coverage may include more than one type of plan at one point in time and/or different types during a calendar year, double counting occurs.
US healthcare funding is forecast to 2021 in US dollars and segmented by source as follows:
- private healthcare insurance
- Medicare
- Medicaid
- out-of-pocket
- healthcare investment
- other healthcare insurance programs, other third-party payers and programs, and public health activity
To illustrate historical trends, healthcare insurance coverage, and healthcare funding, the various segments are provided in annual series from 2006 to 2016.