Since the enactment of Obamacare’s major coverage provisions in 2014, Arkansas has seen its rate of uninsurance cut in more than half — falling from 22.5 percent in 2013 to 9 percent in the first half of 2015 — according to the latest numbers from Gallup. That’s the biggest drop in the nation (nationwide, the uninsurance rate has fallen by about a third, from 17.3 percent in 2013 to 11.7 percent  in the first half of 2015). It’s a remarkable achievement, and of course credit must go to the Arkansas legislature and former Gov. Mike Beebe for enacting the private option, which covers 250,000 Arkansans. 

Back in 2013, one in four adults in the state aged 19-64 had no health insurance. That’s the world that a rump group in the legislature remains eager to return to. 

Advertisement