As Private Insurance Declines, Medicare and Medicaid Pick Up the Slack

Posted by Jacob Goldstein in WSJ Health blog Washington types are furiously debating whether the U.S. should allow more people to buy government-backed insurance. But census data out today suggest the nation may already be moving in that direction. The percentage of people who got health insurance through work or bought it on the private market declined last year, according to the census report (online here). But the share of Americans insured through Medicaid and Medicare (government-backed insurance programs for the poor, elderly and disabled) increased.