This Kaiser Family Foundation issue brief is a good, quick resource to understanding who the uninsured are in America. Among the most salient points is that most (more than 3/4) of the uninsured live in a family with a worker. This highlights several issues.
- that where you are employed, and the type of job you are able to hold, has always affected the type of insurance and health care you can receive.
- this is why ACA tried to encourage more employer sponsored insurance first by requiring insurance coverage of employees by employers of over 50 FTE and second by giving tax incentives for those who employed under 25FTEs.
- this is also why ACA put into place a new option for employees who couldn’t find insurance at work…these are the online marketplaces (the Exchanges)
- finally, because insurance was still going to be unaffordable for many, especially the working poor and their dependents, the feds were going to help states pay for expanding their Medicaid eligibility criteria to include those who would still be unable to afford private insurance. KanCare has been pivotal in keeping kids in poor and working class families insured (under 225% of FPL, $4416 monthly income family of 4).