SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)-Native Americans in New Mexico go without medical insurance at a much higher rate than other state residents and the nation as a whole.

A state-commissioned study by the Urban Institute explores gaps in medical insurance by ethnicity, age, education and location.

About 16 percent of Native Americans statewide go without medical insurance. Health insurance coverage also is relatively scarce in the northwest area of the state that is home to the Navajo Nation.

New Mexico’s expansion of federally subsidized Medicaid health care gave coverage in 2014 to more people on the cusp of poverty. That cut in half the number of people without insurance.