Enrollment in Arkansas’ expanded Medicaid program grew by almost 2,000 people in less than four days, reaching 77,757 as of Monday evening, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Human Services said Tuesday.
The tally included 70,057 who will be covered by private health-insurance plans, with Medicaid paying the premium, and 7,700 who were assigned to the traditional Medicaid program because they are considered to have exceptional health needs.
Last week, the department reported that as of Friday morning 75,832 Arkansans had completed enrollment, including 68,434 who were in private plans and 7,398 who were assigned to the traditional Medicaid program.
“It does seem like the activity and interest level is picking up,” Human Services Department spokesman Amy Webb said.
She said that could be the result of media coverage or “word of mouth,” as people hear from others who have enrolled and whose coverage started Jan. 1. Enrollment began Oct. 1.
“We don’t know what drives it, but we do know there’s increased activity and we do expect that to continue,” Webb said.
An estimated 250,000 Arkansans became eligible for Medicaid under the expansion of the program approved by the Legislature last year.
The expansion extended eligibility to adults with incomes of up to 138 percent of the poverty level - $15,860 for an individual or $32,500 for a family of four.
As of Saturday, 119,844 Arkansans had applied for coverage, and 87,547 had been determined eligible, though some of those who were determined eligible had not completed enrollment, Human Services Department spokesman Kate Luck said in an email.
Those who have applied include about 63,000 recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, who responded to a letter sent 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, 9,295 Arkansans 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.
Applicants who are approved for coverage are directed to another state website, insureark.org, where they are asked to complete a questionnaire designed to identify those with exceptional health needs.
Those without exceptional health needs can use the website to choose a plan.
Webb said earlier this month that 50,284 applicants were automatically assigned to private plans on the state’s insurance exchange because they failed to complete enrollment within 12 days of being approved for coverage. She said she didn’t have an updated total on automatic assignments Tuesday.
Arkansas, Pages 10 on 01/15/2014