The national uninsured rate continues to drop following the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare), which has increased insurance rates access among all racial/ethnic groups while prompting a drastic decrease in the health care disparities faced by people of color.

According to the "2014 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report," the uninsured rate fell from 40.3 percent to 33.2 percent, and it's decreased from 24.6 percent to 15.9 percent among Latinos. Latinos, who've historically experienced higher uninsured rates compared to whites, can now access an entire marketplace of health insurance options at various costs, meeting various needs.

"These findings indicate that the Affordable Care Act's Health Insurance Marketplaces is making health insurance available to millions of Americans who might otherwise have been uninsured," said AHRQ Director Richard Kronick, Ph.D. in a press release.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality report addressed more than 250 measures of quality, access and disparities, involving health care services, settings, timeliness of care, effectiveness of care, patient safety, patient centeredness and efficiency of care. Furthermore, the report revealed that disparities faced by racial groups when attempting to access certain health services have been reduced to zero.

Overweight and obese Latino adults can receive nutrition counseling and advice on lower calorie and fat intake. The number of non-white children receiving the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine has increased. And Latinos, more than ever, have a usual place to go for medical care, according to the report. However, blacks and Hispanics still report lower access to care for nearly half of the access measures tracked throughout the report, including meeting difficulties or delays in receiving care.

The National Quality and Disparities Report is congressionally mandated and it has been distributed since 2003. The report tracks performance measures, provides a snapshot of health care quality and disparities, and it serves as a starting point for measuring progress in future years.

According to Gallup and Healthways, the uninsured rate among U.S. adults has dropped to 11.9 percent, down since the previous quarter and the lowest since Gallup began tracking insurance rates in 2008. Lower-income Americans and Latinos have experienced the most substantial dip in uninsured rates. However, despite gains, these groups still have higher uninsured rates than other groups, likely due to the population size of this demographic.

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