Gallup: U.S. uninsured drops from 17.1% last year to 15.9%

WASHINGTON, March 10 (UPI) -- U.S. adults without health insurance dropped from 17.1 percent at the end of last year to 15.9 percent so far this year, a survey by Gallup indicates.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index surveyed 28,000 U.S. adults Jan. 2-Feb. 28 found the uninsured rate for nearly every major demographic group dropped in 2014 so far. The percentage of uninsured Americans with an annual household income of $36,000 and less dropped the most -- by 2.8 percentage points -- to 27.9 percent since the fourth quarter of 2013.

The percentage of uninsured blacks fell by 2.6 points to 18.3 percent while Hispanics remained the subgroup most likely to lack health insurance, with an uninsured rate of 37.9 percent.

The uninsured rate was on the decline since the fourth quarter of 2013, after hitting an all-time high of 18 percent.

The percentage of the uninsured declined across all age groups this year, except for those age 65 and older because most have Medicare.

The uninsured rate among 26- to 34-year-olds was 2.6 percent and 16.3 percent for those ages 35 to 64.

The percentage of U.S. adults who get health insurance via a current or former employer fell nearly two percentage points so far in the first quarter of this year to 43.4 percent, the survey said.

The survey has a margin of error of 1 percentage point.