3 Million More Americans Have Medicaid Thanks To Obamacare
WASHINGTON (AP) — Three million Americans signed up for Medicaid under President Barack Obama's new health care law as of the end of February, the administration said Friday, offering its first full accounting of how much the safety-net health program has grown since implementation of the law.
Many were newly eligible because of the law's Medicaid expansion, while others already eligible but not yet enrolled came forward due to publicity around the law and its requirement for individuals to carry insurance or risk paying a fine, analysts said. It brings to around 62 million the total number of people covered under Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.
The 3 million figure is incomplete because a handful of states didn't report their numbers, and it doesn't include sign-ups in March.
But together with the administration's announcement earlier this week that more than 7 million Americans had signed up for private insurance through the law's new online marketplaces, it allows administration officials to boast that the nation's new health care program has already covered 10 million uninsured Americans even in the face of unflagging Republican opposition.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/04/obamacare-medicaid-expansion_n_5091696.html
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