Report: Number of Tennesseans without health insurance drops

Friday, October 9, 2015, Vol. 39, No. 41

NASHVILLE (AP) - A recent annual report has revealed that the estimated number of Tennesseans without health insurance has dropped again.

The Commercial Appeal reports (http://bit.ly/1LmaFua) the report was released Wednesday by the University of Tennessee Center for Business and Economic Research.

According to the report, the 6.6 percent rate of uninsured is the lowest for the state since 2004.

The survey indicated that 426,301 Tennesseans are without health coverage this year, down from 472,008 last year and 611,368 in 2013. The study says the decrease coincided with the establishment of the Health Insurance Marketplace established as part of the federal Affordable Care Act.

The number of uninsured children has dropped by more than half since 2013, and 98.5 percent of the state's children are currently insured through either public or private coverage.