AUSTIN (AP) - A new Gallup poll reports that Texas has the highest percentage of people ever recorded without health insurance at 28.8 percent.

The poll released Friday comes one year after the U.S. Census Bureau reported 24.4 percent of Texans lacked health insurance in 2011, the highest in the nation.

The Gallup data covering 2012 come as lawmakers debate whether to expand Medicaid, the health care program for the poor and disabled. Republicans who control the Legislature have rejected a federal offer under the Affordable Care Act of $100 billion in return for the state paying $15 billion over the next 10 years.

Gov. Rick Perry has demanded permission from Washington for the state to develop its own plan for reducing the percentage of uninsured. Talks on a compromise are ongoing.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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