Nearly a quarter of a million formerly uninsured Michiganders got insurance during the first year of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but there’s still a long way to go for health-care equity.

While newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau suggests that Republican doomsday scenarios surrounding the ACA—also known as Obamacare—were preemptive and unfounded, it also shows that race and class are still correlating factors for being uninsured.

Black Michigan residents are still 50 percent more likely to be uninsured than whites in the state, and Latinos are twice as likely. Income and education correlate to uninsured rates as well. Residents who live in households with a yearly income of less than $25,000 are four times more likely to be uninsured that those with household incomes of $100,000.

Michiganders without a high school diploma are four times more likely to be uninsured than a college graduate.

While it’s clear from the data that there remains room for improvement, the first year of Obamacare helped to close the racial and economic insurance gap. In 2013, 89 percent of Michigan residents had health insurance, and in 2014, that percentage increased to 91.5.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) riled some conservative activists in 2014 when he boasted about the state’s Medicaid expansion through the ACA during his bid for re-election.

The number of insured improved the most among people of color and low-income residents. Gains were mostly concentrated among 18- to 64-year-old people because they are too old to be covered under the state’s MIChild program and too young for Medicare. But the 19- to 25-year-old age group, which historically has the highest uninsured rate, saw success. The percentage of insured residents in that age group increased from 79.5 percent in 2013 to 84.5 percent in 2014.

The drop in the uninsured rates of 19- to 25-year-olds is consistent with regional and national numbers. The number of uninsured Americans ages 19-25 dropped from 25.5 percent in 2013 to 20.4 percent in the first year of Obamacare. 

Despite persistent Republican resistance to health-care reform, the ACA is working by many measures. Michigan’s ACA opponents in early 2014 attended a town hall meeting in Jackson to criticize the new law. Even some who could have benefited from the ACA came out to complain. As Michigan Radio reported in a piece from February 2014:

Vern and Dawn Buchbinder were among those at today’s Obamacare town hall in Jackson.

Vern Buchbinder runs a landscaping business in Jackson County. Their old health insurance plan was canceled when Obamacare took effect. They admit they could get a better health plan for their family that would actually be cheaper than the health insurance policy that they used to have. But the Buchbinders say they don’t want a government subsidy to make the plan more affordable.

“I feel blessed to be out there at work and it’s the responsible thing for any American to go out and earn their way,” says Vern Buchbinder.

It’s clear from GOP presidential hopefuls vowing to put an end to Obamacare that the party’s opposition to health-care reform won’t budge in the coming months.

The 2016 open enrollment period for those buying health insurance through the ACA begins November 1.