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U.S. Uninsured Rate Drops Again

The rate of uninsured U.S. residents continues to decline, according to a new poll by Gallup-Healthways.

The U.S. uninsured rate for adults 18 years and older dropped to 11.4 percent during the second quarter of the year. The uninsured rate was 11.9 percent in the first quarter.

In all, the uninsured rate has declined by six percentage points since the Affordable Care Act went into effect in 2013.

The sharpest decline is among Hispanics, blacks and low-income individuals.

The uninsured rate for Hispanics pre-ACA was 38.7 percent—that's compared to the current rate of 29.1 percent. In Kentucky, the pre-ACA uninsured rate for Hispanics was 36.4 percent, according to the 2013 Kentucky Minority Health Status Report.

The uninsured rate of blacks fell 8.9 points from 20.9 percent in 2013 to  12 percent so far this year. The 2013 Kentucky Minority Health Status Report listed 18.9 percent of blacks in Kentucky as being uninsured.

Individuals making below $36,000 annually experienced the sharpest decline since the fourth quarter of 2013. Their uninsured rate now stands at 20.8 percent, compared to 30.7 percent before the ACA.

The 2015 second-quarter uninsured rate is the lowest rate measured since Gallup and Healthways began tracking the metric in 2008.