A new Gallup poll shows that the number of uninsured is the lowest ever recorded, a finding that punches holes in the right-wing narrative that few uninsured individuals have gained coverage under Obamacare. 

On May 5, Gallup released a new poll showing that the percentage of Americans who are uninsured dropped to 13.4 percent, the “lowest monthly uninsured rate recorded since Gallup and Healthways began tracking it in January 2008.” Gallup pointed out that the consistent decline in the number of uninsured adults “coincided with the health insurance marketplace exchanges opening in October 2013.”

Conservative media outlets have consistently tried to spin Obamacare enrollment numbers in an effort to discredit the ACA, claiming that the health care law increased the number of uninsured Americans.

Fox News led the charge in pushing the false narrative that the “net result” of the ACA was “quite negative,” casting past increases in insured individuals as “practically a net wash.” The network has relied heavily on anecdotal evidence from "victims" of Obamacare to stoke fears that the ACA has led to rampant cancellations and effectively uninsured more individuals than it has insured. Several news outlets employed similar tactics, despite the fact that many of the Obamacare victims' stories crumbled upon investigation. 

Fox has also hyped fears that young people's failure to sign up for plans would force the ACA “into [a] death spiral” that would in turn cause skyrocketing premiums. Conservative blogs including Breitbart and the Daily Caller have made similarly egregious claims, ignoring enrollment surges and claiming that Obamacare's “current net effect is clearly in favor of cancellations.”

Gallup's recent poll renders these allegations not only unfounded, but downright untenable. Any claims that Obamacare would result in a 'net loss' ignore the option to renew plans, tax credits, and Medicaid expansion, all of which have had an obvious and unprecedented effect in lowering the number of uninsured.

In a May 5 piece highlighting Gallup's finding, The New Republic noted that “the trend in the Gallup polling clearly isn't a blip,” and concluded that the conservative media's fear mongering is “just not credible anymore.”

With over 8 million people enrolled in private health plans, an additional 4.8 million newly enrolled under Obamacare's Medicaid expansion, and new polling suggesting the Obama's health care law is already a strong success, right-wing media may want to rethink their narrative on Obamacare.