FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) - In a recent Gallup poll, 22.5% of Arkansans did not have health insurance, but after six months of the Affordable Care Act and the state private option plan, the number dropped to only 12.4%.
In 2013, Arkansas ranked 49th in the nation, follow only by Texas, for the percentage of people without health insurance. Arkansas has now climbed to 22nd in the nation, tied with New Hampshire.
Tyler Clark works as the Community Development Manager with the Community Clinic in Springdale. He said the increase of insured people in Arkansas could be related to Obamacare and more people being educated on how to sign up.
"I think it speaks to the cooperation across the state, and it speaks to our legislation, and our legislators who came together to create a unique plan," Clark said, "Since we are a state of deep poverty, we got a plan that actually made sense for Arkansas and was easily accessible, easy to understand, but also made financial sense for our legislators."
U.S. Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas said there are better options than Obamacare, including letting patients decide what doctor they want to go to for the best and most affordable care.
"Withstanding the fact that there are a lot of uninsured Americans that are now insured, and that's good," Womack said, "But at the end of the day there are still too many flaws in the Affordable Care Act, and we'll start seeing a little bit more of some of these flaws when people start getting their premium increases for the following year."
The Gallup survey was based on responses in all 50 states from January 2014 to June 2014.