A Decade of Change: Health Insurance Coverage of Working-Age Adults by State in 2013, 2019, 2023

Signing up for health insurance coverage is often a complex process and requires the applicant to meet specific eligibility criteria. Some employers offer health insurance as a benefit. These policies may cover just the employee or their whole family, usually at a cost. Many public health insurance programs are aimed specifically at coverage for children, older adults, and those most in need. This leaves most working-age adults (aged 19 to 64) with limited options for affordable health insurance coverage, making them susceptible to becoming uninsured.

Though the working-age population of adults 19 to 64 years old represents the largest portion of those uninsured in the United States, this is a heterogeneous age group for which disaggregation into smaller age groups may reveal important differences in their demographic and economic characteristics at different life stages. These differences may affect availability, eligibility, and cost of health insurance at the youngest and oldest end of this population. This paper examines the working-age population by state across the following working-age groups: 19 to 25 years, 26 to 34 years, 35 to 44 years, 45 to 54 years, 55 to 64 years.