None of the components of President Obama’s health care law that have taken effect appear to be affecting insurance coverage of adults over 26, according to a new poll Friday.
The percentage of adults with no health insurance is the highest on record, with 17.3 percent of adults being uninsured in the third quarter of 2011, statistically tying the high set in the second quarter, Gallup found. Three years ago, in the third quarter of 2008, only 14.4 percent of adults lacked health insurance.
Gallup cautions, however, that the record high coincides with a methodological change that samples cell-phone only respondents, which tend to be younger and thus more likely to be uninsured. Thus, some of the increase in the figure could be linked to this change.
One part of Obama’s health care reform that has already drawn results is the change allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ health care plan until they are 26. This has lead to an uninsured rate of only 24.2 percent for 18-25 year olds, down from 28 percent in mid-2010, according to an earlier Gallup poll.