The share of people with health insurance fell last year for the first time since the Great Recession, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Approximately 27.5 million Americans, or 8.5% of the population, were without health coverage at some time last year, the data showed. That’s up from the 25.6 million Americans, or 7.9% of the population, in 2017. It’s the first annual increase since 2009.
The overall public health-insurance coverage rate declined by 0.4% to 34.4% of the population, while private health-insurance coverage rates, typically offered through an employer, remained steady at 67.3% of the population.
