One-sixth of Americans have trouble paying medical bills. That’s good news.

he U.S. government reported Tuesday that some 44.5 million Americans experienced problems paying their medical bills in the first half of this year. That may not sound encouraging, but perspective is everything: In 2011, the figure was 56.5 million.

Overall, the percentage of people living in families facing trouble with their medical bills fell to 16.5% in the first six months of 2015 from 21.3% in 2011. The reason for the steady, linear drop in financial stress in strain from medical bills is inescapable. It’s the Affordable Care Act.

The government figures, from the National Center for Health Statistics, show the sharpest drop for Americans in public healthcare programs, to21.8% this year from 27.8% in 2011. That’s likely an artifact of the expansion of Medicaid under the ACA. But even those in uninsured families had less trouble with bills–that figure dropped to 29.8% from 25.7%. That could be a sign of the general moderation of medical inflation since the enactment of Obamacare, as well as of an improving economy.

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