The rate of uninsured Americans fell to 11.9% in the first quarter of 2015, down one percentage point from the end of 2014, according to a Gallup survey.
The rate was the lowest since Gallup began tracking it with the Healthways company in 2008, and a sharp decrease from a high of 18% on the eve of the rollout of the Affordable Care Act in the fall of 2013.
The polling firm said the rate showed the effects of the health law, but also that it had some distance to go in fulfilling its goals of broadly extending health coverage.
“The significant drop in uninsured Hispanics is a key accomplishment for the Obama administration, which led targeted efforts to insure this group as they had the highest uninsured population of all key subgroups,” pollsters concluded.
“However, despite the gains in insurance coverage among Hispanics and lower-income Americans, these groups still have higher uninsured rates than other key subgroups,” they said.
The poll, carried out between Jan. 2 and March 31 of this year, asked 43,575 adults around the country if they had health insurance coverage. Gallup said the poll had a margin of error of one percentage point.