October 8, 2013 -- A new Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report finds that 67 percent of the uninsured population in states planning to expand Medicaid will be eligible for either Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program or federal exchange subsidies, compared to just 38 percent in states opting out of the expansion. In total, over 6 million more uninsured people will be eligible for assistance in the 25 states (and the District of Columbia) that elected to expand Medicaid versus states that will not expand Medicaid, under full implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Among states expanding Medicaid, the rate of eligibility ranges from a high of 81 percent in Kentucky, Michigan and West Virginia to a low of 59 percent in New Jersey. In the opt-out states, the range is significantly lower, with a high of 53 percent in Maine and a low of 34 percent in Texas.
The report also estimates the decrease in the uninsured population and, again, finds significant variation. On average, states that will not expand Medicaid will see a smaller drop in the uninsured population compared to states expanding Medicaid.
Finally, of those remaining uninsured after full-ACA implementation, a higher share will be eligible for assistance in states expanding Medicaid. This highlights the importance of ongoing outreach efforts to raise awareness of the availability of health coverage assistance and efforts to enroll those eligible in assistance programs.
"We are poised to make significant progress in reducing the number of uninsured Americans in every state. What this paper makes clear is how much more progress states expanding Medicaid will make compared to those not doing so," said Andy Hyman, who leads coverage issues at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The report was prepared by the Urban Institute and includes statistics for all 50 states.
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