Affordable Care Act Enrollment in King County: Increases in Health Insurance Coverage

The Affordable Care Act was designed to promote health equity, better health overall, and lower costs. The first step for King County was to ensure that adults and children have health insurance. After Medicaid expansion and the launch of the WA Health Plan Finder Health Exchange, uninsurance rates in working-age adults and children dropped significantly. In the general working-age adult population, lack of health insurance fell from 16.4% in 2013 to 7.7% in 2015. The percent of children without health insurance fell from 4.3% in 2013 to 1.6% in 2015. Reductions in uninsurance rates were found across age groups, income levels, races/ethnicies and employment status.