January 23, 2019

The Uninsured Rate Has Soared Under Trump — Maybe

Today Gallup announced that the uninsured rate for all adults had reached 13.7 percent, a rise of nearly three percentage points since Donald Trump was elected:

I’m not quite sure how seriously to take this. There are various surveys of the uninsured rate, and I generally consider the CDC survey to be most accurate. However, it’s also the most out-of-date: the most recent CDC survey is from the second quarter of 2018, nearly a full year ago. The CDC and Gallup survey also measure slightly different things. That said, they produced pretty similar estimates all the way through 2016. Then they started to diverge:

So who’s right? For now, I’d put my money on the CDC, and suggest that there’s no reason to panic over Gallup’s surprisingly high number. But that’s not a sure thing. We’ll just have to wait and see if the CDC number stays flat, or if it starts to catch up to Gallup later in the year.

PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

payment methods

PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate