The number and proportion of Medicaid and uninsured patients decreased between 2019 and 2020

 There were also changes in the insurance mix of patients. As Figure 4 shows, after 19 years of steady growth, the number of Medicaid patients fell between 2019 and 2020. Medicaid patients fell by just under a million between 2019 and 2020, or seven percent, while the number of uninsured patients declined by half a million, or eight percent. Although the reasons for the decline among the Medicaid and uninsured patient population are unclear, the pandemic likely exacerbated general access barriers including lack of public transportation, reduced wages or working hours, and heightened the need for addressing other competing priorities such as food and housing.[5] The number of patients with private insurance coverage or with access to employer-based coverage increased by nearly 229,000 patients, or four percent, and consistent with the growth in elderly patients, Medicare patients also increased by two percent during that time period. Figure 5 illustrates the changes in patients’ insurance coverage over the last decade. In 2020, Medicaid patients accounted for nearly half (46 percent) of patients, while more than one in five (22 percent) were uninsured or privately insured (21 percent), compared to 48 percent, 23 percent, and 19 percent, respectively, in 2019. The share of patients with Medicare (ten percent) and other public insurance (one percent) remained stable in both years.

Figure 4

 

Figure 5