More than 100,000 Arkansans had been approved for coverage in the state’s expanded Medicaid program as of Saturday, an increase of more than 4,000 from a week earlier, a spokesman for the state Department of Human Services said Thursday.
The expansion, approved by the Legislature last year, extended eligibility for coverage to adults with incomes of up to 138 percent of the poverty level - for example, $15,860 for an individual and $32,500 for a family of four.
Most of the estimated250,000 people who are eligible are expected to be able to sign up for private plans on the state’s health-insurance exchange and have their premiums paid by Medicaid under the so-called private option.
About 10 percent are expected to be assigned to the traditional Medicaid program because they are considered to have exceptional health needs.
Enrollment began Oct. 1.
The federal government is expected to pay the full cost of covering newly eligible Medicaid recipients, including those on the private option, until 2017, when the state will begin paying a part of the cost.
Continuing the program after the end of this June requires the approval of the state Legislature, which will decide during the fiscal session that starts Monday whether to authorize the use of $915 million in federal funds to cover the newly eligible recipients during the fiscal year that starts July 1.
The appropriation requires 27 votes in the 35-member Senate, which last year narrowly authorized the funding with 28 votes. In the 100-member state House of Representatives, where 75 votes are required, passage came last year with 77 supportive votes.
As of Saturday, 102,173 people had been approved for coverage, representing more than 40 percent of those estimated to be eligible, state Department of Human Services spokesman Kate Luck said.
That total includes more than 63,000 recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, who responded last fall to a letter from the Human Services Department notifying them that they were eligible for coverage.
Others submitted initial applications through a state website, access.arkansas.gov, sent in paper applications or submitted applications to the Human Services Department over the phone.
In addition, the department has received information on 11,794 Arkansans who applied through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which operates the federal online enrollment portal, healthcare.gov.
As of Monday, 92,557 Arkansans had completed enrollment, comprising 83,032 who were signed up for private plans and 9,525 who were assigned to traditional Medicaid because of their health needs. Not all people who have been approved for coverage have completed the enrollment process.
Including those who have enrolled, a total of 149,157 people had applied for coverage as of Saturday.
“I would say that enrollment has been stronger than expected this early on,” Luck said. “This shows that the people of Arkansas are really responsive to the program.”
Front Section, Pages 1 on 02/07/2014