Enrollment in Louisiana's Medicaid expansion begins Wednesday
HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell says Louisiana, as 31st state to expand Medicaid, creates a 'tipping point' for ACA program.
Louisiana will begin to enrollment in Medicaid expansion on Wednesday.
Beginning June 1, residents with a household income below 138 percent of the federal poverty level will be eligible to get health coverage through the state's Medicaid program.
Medicaid expansion could lower Louisiana's uncompensated care costs by $200 million annually, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Nationwide, the cost of uncompensated care is about $8.9 billion lower in 2016 than if no states expanded Medicaid, according to HHS.
Louisiana becomes the 31st state to expand Medicaid.
Newly-elected Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards signed an executive order for Medicaid expansion in January soon after taking office.
[Also: Louisiana expands Medicaid under Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards]
"With Louisiana, we have reached a 'tipping point,'" Burwell said in a release on Tuesday. "More than half of the uninsured who could gain coverage from Medicaid expansion live in states that have expanded this program."
Coverage will be effective beginning on July 1.
In a unique approach, eligibility for enrollment is being determined using pre-existing data from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
While in the past, some states have used the data on a limited basis, Louisiana is the first state to use this enrollment strategy through a federally-approved state plan amendment, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell.
The state plan amendment authorizes the state to use SNAP information to make a financial decision in real time both at initial enrollment and during annual renewal, Burwell said.
The state estimates that 375,000 new adults will enroll in coverage under the expansion, with about 105,000 people already enrolled in SNAP identified as likely eligible for coverage.
Louisiana's uninsured rate for residents ages 18-64 is 15.5 percent, a decline from the 2013 uninsured rate of 19.8 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
