Number Drops but Texas Still Has Highest Rate for People Without Health Insurance

The number of people without health insurance in Texas continues to decline, but the state still has more residents without coverage than anywhere in the nation.

U.S. Census Bureau data released Tuesday shows Texas’ 2016 rate of uninsured at 16.6 percent. That’s down from 17.1 percent in 2015 and 22.1 percent in 2013.

That means about 1.2 million fewer Texans without health insurance last year, compared to 2013.

Still, around 4.5 million Texans lacked health insurance, more than any other state. Texas’ uninsured rate also remained the country’s highest.

The national 2016 uninsured rate was 8.6 percent.

Advocates credit the Obama administration’s signature health care law, and argue that Texas’ uninsured rates would have fallen farther if the GOP-controlled Legislature hadn’t refused to expand Medicaid coverage as part of it.