Poor Louisianians flock to Medicaid

BATON ROUGE — While Louisiana’s Medicaid expansion program continues to add more people to the taxpayer-financed health insurance rolls, topping 500,000 enrollees this year and growing at a pace unexpected by Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration, lawmakers in Utah approved a plan to scale back a voter-approved Medicaid expansion in that state.

Louisiana’s Medicaid expansion is expected to provide insurance to 560,000 people by June 2020, according to health department enrollment estimates.

Pam Diez, financial officer for the Louisiana Department of Health, said at that point, about 89 percent of Louisiana residents eligible for Medicaid expansion would be enrolled in the program. The department had expected a steeper slowdown in enrollment nearly three years after the Democratic governor expanded Medicaid to cover more nonelderly adults, as allowed under the federal health overhaul.

Instead, Diez said the department’s continuing to see sizable numbers of new sign-ups for the program, estimating a 7.5 percent enrollment increase this budget year, followed by a similar increase next year.

The health department is trying to determine what’s driving the ongoing increases.

Medicaid expansion began July 1, 2016, with Louisiana becoming the first Deep South state to participate. More than 440,000 working poor and nonelderly adults signed up for the government-financed coverage within the first budget year. Enrollment grew past 500,000 in January.

In Utah, the state Legislature voted Friday to reduce a voter-approved Medicaid expansion despite protests that it reduces access to needed health care and thwarts voters’ wishes.

The measure would insure about 50,000 fewer people under Medicaid, a change that would need a federal approval that has not been given for any other state. Republican lawmakers argue that and other restrictions are essential to controlling long-term costs, but say their plan will still cover the state’s neediest.

The fast-moving measure still needs another vote from the state Senate before it goes to the governor’s desk, but leaders there said they support it.

The law that passed in November with 53 percent of the vote would fully expand Medicaid to people making up to 138 percent of the poverty line, or about 150,000 low-income people.

The version passed by lawmakers scales that back to 100 percent of the line. The bill also adds work requirements and spending caps.

A Section on 02/09/2019

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