(AP) — A U.S. Census Bureau report has found that the number of people in Indiana without health insurance has decreased over the past few years.
The report released last week found that about 8 percent or 530,000 Indiana residents lacked medical insurance in 2016, compared to 14 percent or 903,000 residents in 2013.
Those figures are close to the national uninsured rates of 14.5 percent in 2013 and 8.6 percent in 2016.
The Journal Gazette reports that the decrease follows the implementation of the federal Affordable Care Act in 2013 and Indiana’s expansion of Medicaid coverage to low-income residents.
Census Bureau official Jennifer Cheeseman Day says data analysts aren’t certain about what caused the improvement. She says it may also be a result of economic trends.