Vermont Moves Closer to Health Insurance for All

For all of the problems and criticism swirling around the state’s health insurance exchange, Vermont is getting results where it counts. New Census data released today show Vermont tied with the District of Columbia for having the second lowest percentage of residents without health insurance. According to the Census, in 2015 just 3.8 percent of Vermonters were uninsured.

Massachusetts was ranked first, with 2.8 percent with no health care coverage. Alaska was last; 14.9 percent of residents there were uninsured last year.

Starting in the fall of 2013, people in Vermont and across the country began signing up for the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. Some states, like Vermont, set up their own online exchanges for people to purchase health insurance. Other states opted to let the federal government run the exchanges.

According to the latest Census data, the number of uninsured Vermonters declined by 21,000 from 2013 to 2015. During that period the uninsured rate was cut nearly in half—from 7.2 percent in 2013 to 3.8 percent in 2015. Only six other states made deeper cuts to their rates of uninsured.