Percent of Americans without health coverage hits new low

The proportion of the US population with no health insurance in the United States reached a new low in early 2022 at eight percent, President Joe Biden's administration said Tuesday.

The rate of uninsured people began to fall sharply after the Affordable Care Act came into effect in 2014. The ambitious reform of medical insurance, better known as "Obamacare," was the flagship law of former president Barack Obama, with whom Biden served as vice president.

Between 2018 and 2019, however, the number of uninsured rebounded before falling again.

The Department of Health said that, based on a household survey it carried out, 5.2 million people have gained medical insurance since early 2021, when Biden came to office, a figure that includes a million children.

However, around 26 million people remain without health coverage in the country.

"No one should worry about whether they can pay for their doctor or choose between paying rent and filing a prescription," Biden said in a statement.

"Today, we are closer than ever to making that principle a reality," he added.

The president attributed the rise in the number of medically insured Americans to improvements contained in the American Rescue Plan, the emergency aid plan adopted at the start of his term that contained measures facilitating access to health insurance through grants to help families pay for medical coverage.

"Pretty cool, huh, @BarackObama?" Biden said on Twitter.

"You bet, Joe," the former president responded.

The two men called on Congress to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, a law largely focused on clean energy and climate but also containing measures to secure subsidies for medical coverage and reduce drug prices.