LINCOLN - At least 217,000 Nebraskans lack health insurance, a number that grew steeply over the past decade, according to a report released Tuesday.

University of Nebraska Medical Center researchers found that the number of uninsured Nebraskans too young for Medicare grew 67 percent from 2000 to 2010.

"This might seem somewhat alarming," said Jim Stimpson, associate professor in the UNMC Center for Health Policy and co-author of the report.

Nebraska's experience is similar to that of other Midwest states, he said.

In 2010, uninsured Nebraskans were 15 percent of the population under age 65. That was up from 9 percent a decade earlier.

Stimpson and co-author Kelly Shaw-Sutherland, a health data analyst at the medical center, noted that rising health care costs and volatile economies typically drive up the percentage of uninsured people.

The recession that began at the end of 2007 has cost many people their jobs and health insurance.

The report was released as Nebraskans debate how to respond to the federal health care law now that it has been upheld by the U.