Medicaid enrollment surges
With January numbers in, enrollment is approaching 10 million, CMS reports
The number of people determined eligible for Medicaid since the launch of new insurance marketplaces is approaching 10 million, according to new data released from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Between October and February, 8.9 million adults and children have applied and qualify for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), including people in income brackets newly eligible for Medicaid and those eligible prior to health reform, said CMS in its monthly enrollment update report.
About 4.6 million new potential beneficiaries are from the 26 states expanding Medicaid eligibility and about 4.3 million are from the others not expanding. In every state, at least some of them are likely people already eligible who are now applying amid all the new promotion and media coverage of the Affordable Care Act.
CMS' report updated January enrollment data reported by the states. CMS noted in the report that the January data should be considered preliminary because the states reported data to CMS directly after the close of the month.
