Feds: Iowa’s uninsured rate at historic low

The federal government said Tuesday that just 5 percent of Iowans were uninsured last year, a historic low that Obama administration officials attributed to the Affordable Care Act.

The figures come from the National Health Interview Survey program, overseen by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report said that, nationwide, 28.6 million Americans, or 9.1 percent of the population, were uninsured at the time of interviews. That is 7.4 million fewer than the year before. The administration said it was the first time in history fewer than 1 in 10 Americans lacked health insurance.

The survey involved responses from 100,000 people.

Iowa has traditionally had low uninsured rates, and the new survey demonstrated that again for 2015. The 5 percent rate was down from 5.6 percent in the 2014 survey. Only seven other states had a lower share of their populations without insurance than Iowa last year.

The report also included data on the uninsured rate for those between 18 and 64 years of age. In 2013, the uninsured rate for Iowans in that age group was 11.3 percent. It dropped to 7.1 percent last year, the report said.

Of those Iowans under 65, 19.3 percent had public health insurance, which would include Medicaid, the children's health insurance program or some other type of government-sponsored health plan. The survey said 75.9 percent of Iowans under 65 were covered by private health insurance.