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New Analysis Shows Impact of ACA on Uninsured by Congressional District

SHADAC Staff
May 12, 2017

A new SHADAC analysis[i] provides information about the impacts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on the uninsured by Congressional District, for all 50 states (435 Congressional Districts).  The analysis, funded by the California Health Care Foundation, includes detailed infographics and data tables illustrating changes in the number and rate (percentage) of uninsured between 2013 and 2015 across all Congressional Districts and for a range of demographic groups within each Congressional District including: race/ethnicity; income; citizenship; educational attainment; and employment status. 

Notably, all but five of the Congressional Districts (out of 435 nationwide) experienced a statistically significant decline in the uninsured rate between 2013 and 2015. However, there was considerable variation in the magnitude of these declines.  The percentage point decline in the uninsured ranged from 14.5 in the 34th Congressional District of California to slightly less than one percentage point in the third Congressional District of Massachusetts. 

There was also variation in the impact of the ACA on the uninsured for subgroups within individual Congressional Districts. For example, in many Congressional Districts those with lower incomes and less education experienced larger declines in uninsurance following the ACA. The infographics provide intuitive, “at a glance” visualizations of these important differences. 

Health care continues to be an extremely political and divisive issue, and understanding the impacts of the ACA at the Congressional District level is important for policymakers, the media, and other stakeholders engaged in the debate.  This analysis can be used to understand trends in the uninsured  across Congressional Districts within individual states, as well as provide insights into how coverage rates for specific groups within individual Congressional Districts—e.g., racial and ethnic minorities, the low income, etc.—have changed under the ACA. 



Access the 2013-2015 Congressional District uninsured estimates.

 

[i] Source:  SHADAC analysis of U.S. Census Bureau 2013 and 2015 American Community Survey's Table S2701 and S2716 downloaded from American FactFinder;  http://factfinder2.census.gov; (March 2017)