Americans who won’t be covered by Medicaid under Obamacare because of Republican opposition are disproportionally black or Hispanic and Southern, according to a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The non-partisan foundation broke down the demographics of the nearly 5 million people who fall in the coverage gap in 25 non-expanding states (making too much money to qualify for the state’s current Medicaid program but not enough to qualify for financial assistance to purchase private insurance under the Affordable Care Act).
Nearly eight in 10 (79 percent) live in the South. Blacks (27 percent) and Hispanics (21 percent) combined totaled more than whites (47 percent) in the gap.
The gender breakdown is roughly even: 51 percent male and 49 percent female. Childless adults, who usually can’t qualify for the current Medicaid program, make up 76 percent of the coverage gap.
Half are younger adults between the ages 19 and 34. Nearly half (49 percent) are reportedly in good or excellent health — but 20 percent are in fair or poor health. A plurality (46 percent) are not working, while 29 percent work full-time and 25 percent work part-time.
TPM previously built the map below to break down the Medicaid expansion gap population by state.
