NCHS Early Release Of 2025 Healthcare Insurance Coverage Estimates

The National Center For Health Statistics' (NCHS) National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Early Releases Program provides access to preliminary data about health insurance coverage, including which family members have coverage, the types of cover they have, and family medical expenses.

The NHIS early report estimates health insurance coverage for the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population based on data from the 2025 NHIS. The National Center for Health Statistics releases these estimates before final editing and final weighting to provide all interested parties access to the most recent health insurance information. Estimates are broken down by age group, sex, family income, race & ethnicity, and state Medicaid expansion status

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5899861-us-uninsured-rate-2025/

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/Health-Insurance-Coverage-Early-Release-of-Estimates-2025.pdf

CDC: About 8 percent of US was uninsured in 2025
By Nathaniel Weixel - May 28, 2026

About 8 percent of the U.S. population was uninsured in 2025, largely unchanged from 2024, according to new estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The results from the agency’s National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) show that while the overall percentage is largely unchanged, the number of uninsured grew by about 800,000 — including 300,000 children. The uninsured rate remains lower than it was in 2019.

The CDC’s numbers, which are preliminary estimates, show the first complete picture of 2025 insurance coverage.

Among adults ages 18 to 64, 11.6 percent were uninsured at the time of interview, 21 percent had public coverage like Medicaid, state-sponsored or military plans, and 69 percent had private health insurance coverage.

The number of uninsured is likely to rise in the coming years because of sweeping changes the Trump administration is making to Medicaid as well as the expiration of the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits and other regulatory changes to the exchanges.

The Congressional Budget Office projects that about 14 million more people will be uninsured in 2034 due to the combined effects of the Medicaid and exchange eligibility changes included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act tax cut law as well as the expiration of the enhanced subsidies.

The Census Bureau has not yet released its American Community Survey, which many consider to be the best representation of insurance coverage in the country. The 2024 survey similarly found about 8 percent of Americans of all ages did not have insurance in 2024.

But according to a KFF analysis of the 2024 figures, the number of people 64 and younger without health coverage and the uninsured rate both increased for the first time since 2019. The decline was mostly driven by a drop in Medicaid coverage.

Coverage among people aged 64 and younger is the best indication of the bigger picture, because Medicare offers near universal coverage for adults 65 and older.