OVERNIGHT HEALTH: Analysis provides new insight on Medicaid enrollment

A new analysis of Medicaid enrollments says that only 2.4 million to 3.5 million people have newly registered for the program since October under the healthcare law. 



Figures released by consulting firm Avalere Health are significantly lower than the Obama administration’s total estimate for people who have been determined eligible for Medicaid since October: 8.9 million.

{mosads}Federal health officials have frequently cited the rush of interest in Medicaid as a bright spot in ObamaCare’s rollout. The law allows states to expand the program to more low-income patients using mostly federal dollars.

Elise Viebeck at The Hill reports.

MoveOn: The liberal nonprofit group MoveOn launched a campaign on Monday directly targeting some of the highest profile Republican governors in the country over their continued opposition to expanding Medicaid under ObamaCare.

The group put up billboards in Texas, Nebraska, Florida, Louisiana, Wisconsin and Virginia that will run through the end of the month. The ads, in conjunction with planned petitions and rallies, aim to “ratchet up the pressure” on elected officials and “urge them to accept federal Medicaid funds” for the estimated 2 million in those states that could benefit.



“Welcome to Texas! Where Gov. Perry has denied 1,046,000 Texans health care and now all Texans are paying for it. It’s like a whole other country,” one billboard reads. Jonathan Easley at The Hill reports.

Outreach: President Obama will reach out directly to Hispanics on the merits of the Affordable Care Act as part of the administration’s final enrollment push before the March 31 deadline.

The town-hall event on Thursday in Washington, D.C., will be coordinated in conjunction with some of the largest Spanish-speaking media outlets in the country — Univision, Telemundo and La Opinion-impreMedia — and will be distributed across “broadcast, radio, digital and social platforms,” according to a White House official. 

The official said the “historic” meeting will “provide an opportunity for a large Latino audience to better understand and guide their decisions to enroll in health coverage.”

The event is co-sponsored by Covered California. The state’s ObamaCare exchange has enrolled the most people in the country, but has struggled to reach Hispanics. The Obama administration has said there are 10.2 million uninsured Hispanics eligible for ObamaCare in the country, and that about 8.1 million are likely eligible for tax credits.

Jonathan Easley at The Hill reports.

Escape: This year, members of Congress and thousands of their staffers are finally signing up for health insurance provided by an ObamaCare exchange, fulfilling their commitment to live under the same system that millions of other Americans will use. But unlike those millions of Americans, members and staff have a way to opt out of ObamaCare — retirement.

Under a rule issued by the Office of Personnel Management late last year, members and staff who retire will be able to revert back to health coverage under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). That’s the same coverage thousands of other federal workers can use when they retire.

The FEHBP lets government retirees choose from a range of options, including health savings accounts, PPOs or HMOs. And none of it has anything to do with ObamaCare. Pete Kasperowicz at The Hill reports.

State by State:

Oregon exchange accidentally enrolls undocumented immigrants.

Medicaid expansion complicates Virginia budget negotiations.

RGA attacks South Carolina Dem over Medicaid expansion.

Reading List:

GOP finally goes too far on ObamaCare.

GOP has ObamaCare on the ropes.

Insurance companies must evolve or die.

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Commerce: ObamaCare boosts personal income, consumer spending.

Medical imaging launches campaign against cuts.