Federal health authorities reported Thursday that the rate of Americans who smoke cigarettes has dropped from 17.8 percent in 2013 to 16.8 percent.

The New York Times reports that in the 1960s, nearly half of all Americans smoked. Public health campaigns, as well as warnings from the surgeon general has helped to drop the rate. In 2005, 21 percent of all Americans smoked.

The current data does hide the fact, however, that 43 percent of people without post-secondary education are smokers. Only five percent of those with a graduate degree smoke. A third of those insured via Medicaid smoke, while only 13 percent of those with private insurance are smokers. Almost nine million uninsured Americans smoke.

Diseases related to smoking account for over 15 percent of Medicaid costs from 2006 to 2010, according to the American Lung Association. Kenneth E. Warner, a professor of public health at the University of Michigan said, “Disparities are the single most important issue in smoking.”

Dr. Warner went on to explain that many think smoking related issues are solved, since it is not in their communities anymore. People that still smoke regularly are the poor, mentally ill, and other populations. While many programs designed to curb smoking have been generally successful, progress among low-income and less-educated communities have been slow.

Thursday, rules were proposed by the government that would ban smoking from public housing, across the country. Smoking rates among those below the poverty line dropped to 26 percent, down from 30 percent in 2005.