7.2M Enrolled in Medicaid, CHIP Since ACA Expansions, HHS Says

More than seven million U.S. residents enrolled in Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program since Oct. 1, 2013, according to preliminary data released by HHS on Friday, The Hill reports.

The data do not specify the number of new enrollees who were eligible for Medicaid or were uninsured before the program was expanded under the Affordable Care Act (Viebeck, The Hill, 8/8). The data also do not include enrollment figures from Maine or North Dakota, which did not submit Medicaid enrollment figures for May or June (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 8/8).

However, the data show that 7.2 million U.S. residents enrolled in the coverage since the Medicaid expansion was implemented (The Hill, 8/8). The data indicate that 602,210 people enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP in June. Researchers noted that enrollment in the programs continues to grow, because unlike the ACA's insurance exchanges, individuals can enroll in CHIP or Medicaid at any time throughout the year

Enrollment Grows Faster in Expansion States

CMS Deputy Administrator Cindy Mann in a blog post wrote that Medicaid and CHIP enrollment in the 26 states that expanded their Medicaid programs under the ACA increased by 18.5%, compared with 4% in states that did not expand Medicaid. She estimated that 5.7 million more low-income U.S. residents would have enrolled if the remaining 24 states expanded Medicaid.  

According to an Urban Institute study released Thursday, states that do not expand Medicaid are forgoing about $423.6 billion in federal funds from 2013 to 2022. In addition, hospitals in non-expansion states are missing out on about $167.8 billion in Medicaid revenue, the study estimated (CQ HealthBeat, 8/8).