During 2014, the state with the
lowest percentage of people without
health insurance at the time of the
interview was Massachusetts (3.3 percent),
while the highest uninsured
rate was for Texas (19.1 percent)
(Figure 7 and Table A-1).42 Six states
(Massachusetts, Vermont, Hawaii,
Minnesota, Iowa, and Connecticut)
and the District of Columbia had an
uninsured rate of about 7.0 percent or
less. Three states, Florida, Alaska, and
Texas, had an uninsured rate of about
16.0 percent or more.
Between 2013 and 2014, all 50 states
and the District of Columbia showed a
decrease in the rate of people without
health insurance coverage at the
time of the interview (Figure 8 and
Table A-1). The decrease in the uninsured
rate between 2013 and 2014
ranged from 0.4 percentage points
(Massachusetts) to 5.8 percentage
points (Kentucky).43
Variation in both the uninsured rate
and change in the uninsured rate by
state may be related to whether the
state expanded Medicaid eligibility in
2014 as part of the Affordable Care
Act. In general, in 2014, the uninsured
rate in states that expanded
Medicaid eligibility was lower than in
states that did not expand eligibility
(Figure 7). In states that expanded
Medicaid eligibility (“expansion
states”), the uninsured rate in 2014
was 9.8 percent, compared with
13.5 percent in states that did not
expand Medicaid eligibility (“nonexpansion
states”). The uninsured
rates by state ranged from 3.3 percent
(Massachusetts) to 15.2 percent
(Nevada) in expansion states,44 and
from 7.3 percent (Wisconsin) to 19.1
percent (Texas) in non-expansion
states.
Between 2013 and 2014, decreases
in the uninsured rate were in general
greater in expansion states than in
non-expansion states. The decrease
