Iowa’s uninsured rates drops by nearly two points

The number of Iowans without health insurance fell by 59,000 from 2013 to 2014, while the rate of uninsured in the state fell by nearly two full percentage points, according to new federal figures.

The report, from the U.S. Census Bureau, said Iowa's uninsured rate fell from 8.1 percent to 6.2 percent last year. The Census Bureau said 189,000 Iowans did not have health insurance last year, down from 248,000 the year before.

Supporters of the Affordable Care Act have been pointing to polling for some time now that says the number of uninsured in the United States has declined. And the lone Democrat in Iowa's congressional delegation, Rep. Dave Loebsack, said the new figures are proof the law is working.

Iowa traditionally had has one of the lowest uninsured rates in the nation, and Wednesday's report said it was one of just six states with a rate of less than 7 percent.

The others were Massachusetts (3.3 percent), Vermont (5 percent), Hawaii (5.3 percent), Minnesota (5.9 percent) and Connecticut (6.9 percent).

Texas had the highest rate of uninsured, at 19.1 percent, although that was down, too, from 22.1 percent the year before.

Nationwide, 33 million people, or 10.4 percent of the population, were uninsured throughout the year, according to the report. That is down from 13.3 percent, or nearly 42 million the year before.

The Affordable Care Act included generous federal subsidies to encourage states to expand their programs, although many with Republican governors did not do that.

Iowa was one of those states that did.

In an email Wednesday, Jimmy Centers, Gov. Terry Branstad's spokesman, noted the state's traditionally low uninsured rate and said Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds worked on a bipartisan basis to create the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan.

'The plan not only provides health care services to an additional nearly 150,000 Iowans, but more importantly, it works to make Iowans healthier and improve health outcomes for patients,” he said.