TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) – The Sunshine State led the charge against President Obama’s heath care plan, now newly released information shows Florida has the nation’s third highest rate of residents without health insurance.

According to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census shows, more than 20 percent of Floridians lacked health insurance during the past three years. The national average was just under 16 percent.

Only Texas and New Mexico have higher rates of residents without health insurance.

Florida’s attorney general filed a lawsuit challenging the provisions of Obama’s health care plan just minutes after the president signed the health care bill into law in 2010. Earlier this year, a federal judge in Pensacola ruled that the health care law was unconstitutional.

The ruling was appealed to the appellate court in Atlanta.

(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)