The decline — from 1.7 million adults in 2011 to 750,000 adults in 2015 — was seen in both men and women, all racial and ethnic groups, all age groups, and all geographic areas of the county.
A slight decline was also seen among children less than 18 years old, from 5 percent in 2011 to 3.4 percent in 2015, continuing a steady decline since 2002, when 10.1 percent of the county’s children lacked health insurance, the report shows.
“These statistics represent great news for the county,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of the county public health agency. “We know that having health insurance coverage is an essential step in ensuring people get the medical care they need, including access to preventive services.”
Despite the favorable trends, large disparities in the uninsured persist in the county. The percentage of adults who were uninsured in 2015 was more than three times higher in small communities in the southern and eastern parts of the county, according to the survey.
The percentage of uninsured was also higher among Latino adults at 17.3 percent than among Asians at 7.3 percent, whites at 6.4 percent and African-American adults at 6.1 percent.
Among Latinos, the percentage of uninsured was higher among those living below the federal poverty line than among those living at or above the poverty level.
The decline in uninsured in the county is consistent with trends reported in California and nationally, and occurred during the time when the Affordable Care Act was being implemented.
In California, the implementation included expansion of Medi-Cal to cover previously ineligible adults with incomes below 138 percent of the federal poverty level, and private insurance options through Covered California for individuals and families with higher incomes.
“This report shows that we should be working to extend the benefits of the ACA, not to repeal it,” said Dr. Mitchell Katz, director of the Los Angeles County Health Agency.
The “Recent Trends in Health Insurance Coverage” report is available online at publichealth.lacounty.gov/ha.
Theresa says
… believe it or not, doctors weren’t always greedy, stingy vexatious billers who care more about their Epicurean lifestyle than their patients. Once upon a time, paid in chickens and eggs, doctors actually made house-calls. The insurance corporations corrupted America’s health care providers to such extent, we now need RICO statute extended to our medical campuses. In collusion with our legislature, the insurance conglomerates and the hospital corporations have been so devastatingly effective, gaming patients, in 10 years they’ve doubled our co-pays, our deductibles, and our co-insurance, 4 times over. Painfully apparent, America’s heath care problem can’t be solved, by insurance. Things are so bad in here in America, we’re unequivocally better off dumping health insurance policies, pocketing hyper-inflated monthly premiums, paying cash-on-the-barrel to physicians in private practice –
George Keller says
Well, I suppose if you have let’s say a wife and 4 kids, and make less than 40K a year, there is a subsidized amount of $1,476.00 credit monthly (Taxpayers pick up your insurance costs) and you choose the lower level silver plan, then you end up with about a $500.00 deductible per year. Move up to a Bronze plan and you are looking at a $10,000.00 deductible and everything is a 40% co-pay. I guess it is all up to the level of care or service you want, or the doctor you want to see.
Tim Scott says
I broke my femur almost forty years ago and cost the navy over thirty grand. The plan I looked at had a four thousand dollar deductible, which like i said I would hate to have to cough up…but it beats the heck out of what would undoubtedly be more like fifty than thirty today. NOBODY can just absorb a fifty grand hit…while they hobble around not working.
Again, if you are comparing to the “off to the doctor for every sniffle” plan that my parents had then sure, a $4000 deductible sucks. But if you compare it to having those four kids and being on the hook for every broken bone with NO insurance…heck yeah!
George Keller says
Not sure the number of those now insured really matters. With the high deductibles and co-pays, most of those with the lower level plans basically still have no insurance. Unless they are inflicted with something pretty substantial, they will never actually touch the insurance.
Tim Scott says
If you are someone who wasn’t insured but now is insured it probably matters.
I took a quick look at a “basic plan.” I certainly wouldn’t want to cough up the deductible, true enough. But it is equally true that just about any real medical issue I might encounter would eat that deductible amount in the first five minutes, so the “unless they are inflicted with something pretty substantial they will never touch the insurance” seems a gross exaggeration. It may not be the “let’s go to the doctor every time we have a sniffle” kind of insurance that financially advantaged people are accustomed to having, but it is hardly like being uninsured.
Mike White says
Is being a libtard criminal coddler covered under ur plan Tim? How about being wrong about EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME?
Tim Scott says
Hi Mike. Good to know I’m still the center of your little universe. Do you ever say anything about anything other than me? Do you really think about me all the time? Not that I’m not flattered, but it seems a little strange.
Tim Scott says
LOL…that’s pretty hilarious. Since my first ever comment on this site was calling the editor a “social media maven with delusions of journalism” I doubt she’d be really eager to give me a job.
Clearly Theresa is not interested in fact based commenting.
Vic says
Obviously you haven’t been following Tim Scott for very long.