The stories you want. The opinions that matter.
No, thanks
Tag: eligibility
Report: Over 27 Million Previously Uninsured Americans Now Eligible For Coverage Under Obamacare

Report: Over 27 Million Previously Uninsured Americans Now Eligible For Coverage Under Obamacare

The Affordable Care Act will reduce the number of uninsured Americans by 56 percent — or 27.7 million individuals – by 2016, according to an updated report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The report supports the findings of a March Gallup poll that showed the percentage of uninsured consistently decreasing. In mid-2013, 18 percent lacked health insurance. In March of this year, that number was down to 15.9 percent, the lowest level since 2009. The RWJF report finds that by 2016, only 9 percent of Americans will be uninsured.

While Obamacare will improve health care access for residents of all 50 states, the states that have expanded Medicaid coverage have unsurprisingly benefited more than those that have not. Already, states that accepted Medicaid expansion have covered 68 percent of previously uninsured individuals, while states that did not have covered just 44 percent.

In the states that expanded Medicaid, 50 percent of individuals are newly eligible for Medicaid or CHIP. On the other hand, only 18 percent of residents in states that did not accept the expansion are granted access to Medicaid or CHIP under the ACA. Conversely, 26 percent of individuals in non-expanding states are granted subsidy eligibility, compared to 18 percent of expanding states’ populations. While subsidies are certainly helpful components of health care, they do not provide coverage as comprehensive as Medicaid or CHIP, suggesting that states that have not yet expanded Medicaid coverage are falling considerably behind other states when it comes to insuring their residents.

Among states that have refused to expand Medicaid, Texas has the worst coverage numbers, with only 40 percent of its uninsured now receiving access to some form of health care coverage. By contrast, West Virginia has granted 83 percent of its uninsured residents health care access. The RWJF report suggests that if states like Texas were to expand Medicaid coverage, they could increase their number of insured citizens by 27 percent.

These states’ stubbornness could have further-reaching effects, as the RWJF projects that by 2016, states will have the potential to insure 59 percent of their population if they adopt expanded Medicaid coverage. If they fail to do so, however, non-expanding states will only be able to reduce the proportion of uninsured individuals by 34 percent. States that already have expanded Medicaid coverage are predicted to insure an additional 56 percent of residents.

Quite a few states, noticing this distinct disparity, have made plans to improve their coverage plans. Both Pennsylvania and Indiana have submitted proposals to expand Medicaid coverage, and New Hampshire is on track to expand its program in in July. Wisconsin, the expansion holdout that has fared best in covering its previously uninsured citizens, likely has such high numbers (74 percent) because “adults up to 100 percent of federal poverty level (FPL) are now eligible for Medicaid and can enroll.”

Of the 27.1 million individuals who are projected to remain uninsured in 2016 — just 8.6 percent of the population — a plurality of 37 percent would be eligible for Medicaid, CHIP, or subsidies applicable to marketplace coverage. As such, many of these individuals would also likely be able to enroll in some form of coverage, further boosting the proportion of insured Americans. Of the remaining uninsured individuals, around 40 percent are undocumented immigrants, who are ineligible to receive marketplace coverage, Medicaid and CHIP assistance. Around 35 percent of the uninsured are likely to be low-income residents of states that have not expanded Medicaid coverage. The majority of these individuals would receive assistance if their states were to expand Medicaid.

Photo via Flickr

Want more analysis of the Affordable Care Act? Sign up for our daily email newsletter!

Obama Considers Raising Medicare Age to Appease Republicans

First it was Social Security on the chopping block. Now, it’s Medicare.

The Huffington Post reports that, according to five sources from inside the debt ceiling negotiations, President Obama may consider raising the age of Medicare eligibility from 65 to 67 in the hope of gaining Republican support for tax revenue increases. The pitch drew parallels with Sens. Joe Lieberman and Tom Coburn’s proposed cuts to Medicare that would allegedly save $600 billion over the next 10 years.

At a press conference today, the president renewed his commitment to attaining the largest deficit reduction deal possible, which may involve reducing the federal government’s commitment to senior citizens, under the auspices of “both parties taking on their sacred cows.” Uncertainty about the future of key pillars of American social policy seems to be the new norm; last week, the President seemed to be open to Republican demands for Social Security cuts.

In regard to Medicare changes, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the two-year increase would save $124.8 billion between 2014 and 2021 — a relatively small amount given the massive influx of baby boomers currently entering the system.

The Washington Post‘s Ezra Klein points out that even if the proposal goes through, the Affordable Care Act would theoretically provide subsidies to those seniors who are unable to obtain health insurance. (Of course, that’s if the program totally goes in effect — and works as well as Medicare.)

Bailing on such an important, popular, and central plank of the Democratic Party platform and philosophy might be justified if Republicans were willing to budge on major issues in the negotiations, but such cooperation seems totally absent from the talks. This past weekend, Republicans rejected a $4 trillion deal proposed by Obama because it involved repealing the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and, a few weeks ago, they walked away from a similar but smaller $2 trillion deal. It seems that the give-and-take of the budget negotiations now involve Obama giving to Republicans, and Congress taking away from seniors.