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8 states had significant drop in uninsured

8 states had significant drop in uninsured
Posted at 8:21 AM, Feb 09, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-09 10:21:31-05

A new government report on health insurance has implications for the presidential campaign.

Out Tuesday, the National Health Interview Survey says eight states saw a significant drop last year in the number of residents without health insurance.

They are Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, and New York. Politically, that's a mix of red, blue and purple states.

All but Florida had accepted a Medicaid expansion that's one of two major pathways to coverage under President Barack Obama's health care law. The other coverage route is subsidized private insurance, available in all 50 states.

GOP presidential candidates are vowing to repeal "Obamacare," with hardly any detail on how they'd replace it without millions losing coverage.

Overall, the nation's uninsured rate dropped to 9.1 percent in 2015.