Number of uninsured Iowans falls 46 percent: data

The number of uninsured Iowans has dropped by 46 percent since 2010, the year the Affordable Care Act was launched, according to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services data released Tuesday.

That means about 132,000 Iowans have picked up coverage who didn't have it before the ACA, HHS officials said.

Nationwide, the uninsured rate fell from 15.5 percent in 2010 to 9.4 percent in 2015, according to the HHS's figures.

In a media call to discuss the data, Matthew Fiedler, chief economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers, cited 'dramatic strides” in health care coverage nationally. He specifically called out improvement in access for Americans due to expanded coverage.

'Since 2010, the number of people who failed to have coverage because they couldn't afford care has fallen by one-third,” Fiedler said.

From the information in the data, he added, 'Since the ACA come on line, we're spending $2.6 trillion less on health care” nationwide.

Among the data's Iowa-specific findings:

l Total Medicaid and CHIP - the Children's Health Insurance Program - enrollment in Iowa reached 619,055 as of August this year compared to 493,515 in July through September 2013.

l Approximately 17,000 Iowans have health insurance under the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan - the state's Medicaid expansion program - which was launched in January 2014.

l About 42,595 moderate- and middle-income Iowans now obtain tax credits, averaging $307 a month each, to help pay for coverage through HealthCare.gov.

l Some 1,862,000 people in Iowa now are covered by employer-sponsored health plans.

l The state has 587,780 Medicare participants as of September.

l About 55,670 Iowa seniors saved $53 million on drugs in 2015 - an average of $957 per Medicare enrollee.

l Hospital readmissions for Iowa Medicare beneficiaries fell seven percent from 2010 to 2015.

l The average insurance premium price tag for Iowa families with coverage through an employer grew 4.2 percent per year from 2010 to 2015, contrasted with 7.4 percent over the previous decade. 'Assuming Iowa premiums grew in line with the national average in 2016,” according to the HHS statement, 'family premiums in Iowa are $3,500 lower today if growth had matched the pre-ACA decade.”

HHS officials on the call noted the deadline is Thursday to sign up for 2017 coverage on healthcare.gov.

'As our nation debates changes to the health care system, it's important to take stock of where we are today compared to where we were before the Affordable Care Act,” HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell said in prepared statement. 'Whether Iowans get coverage through an employer, Medicaid, the individual market or Medicare, they have better health coverage and care today as a result of the ACA.”