Demographic Profile of Uninsured Segment within Healthcare Marketplace
Over the next decade, the demographic profile of the public healthcare exchange market will continue to shift. This healthcare marketplace is made up of four broad segments:
- those who purchased a plan on one of the public exchanges in 2013/2014 and will have the opportunity to switch in 2014/2015;
- those who enrolled in a plan on one of the public exchanges in 2013/2014, but never paid their premiums;
- those who get dropped from employer plans in 2014; and
- those who remain uninsured despite the government mandate.
Of these, the single largest segment continues to be those who remain uninsured. By comparing demographic data – specifically age and race – of the uninsured on the eve of the public exchanges opening against the demographic data of those who enrolled, we can begin to understand if and how the uninsured segment has evolved. (Note, since we don’t know exactly what percentage of those enrolled were deemed previously uninsured versus recently dropped from existing plans, assess these results directionally.)
The following compares race data of the uninsured in October 2013 (as compiled by http://kff.org/) versus the race data of those who enrolled on one of the public exchanges (as published by the U.S. Government):
The following compares age data of the uninsured in October 2013 (as compiled by http://kff.org/) versus the age data of those who enrolled on one of the Public Exchanges (as published by the U.S. Government).
Ultimately, as further demonstrated by the chart below, today’s “uninsured” segment is more likely Hispanic and younger than the uninsured profile from October 2013.
This information may be helpful for payers as they build their marketing plans for 2014-2015 open enrollment.
