More Kentuckians are gaining health insurance coverage, a trend that has continued since the Affordable Care Act was implemented in 2014, according to a report released Wednesday by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.
The fourth quarter 2015 snapshot of the impact of the ACA in Kentucky indicates that the rate of uninsurance was 7.5 percent as of December 2015, down from 9 percent in June 2015.
Nationally, 11.7 percent lacked health insurance as of December; the rate was 10.2 percent for the eight states surrounding Kentucky.
"Lack of insurance is a significant barrier to getting necessary health care and preventive services timely," said Susan Zepeda, President/CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.
"Tracking this and other key information about access to and cost of care in Kentucky helps to inform health policy decisions."
The report was created by the State Health Access Data Assistance Center at the University of Minnesota, and is part of a 34-month study funded by the Foundation.