As the January 1 start date of many of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act approaches, states and the federal government are closely tracking progress in getting individuals enrolled in Medicaid and qualified health plans (QHPs). The most up-to-date application and enrollment numbers from the states can be found on the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) website. Based on the data, a few trends and findings are emerging:
- The Congressional Budget Office estimated (in May, 2013) that, in 2014, 9 million people would sign up for Medicaid and 7 million people would gain coverage through Exchanges. As of the most recent KFF numbers, 1,360,231 have completed an application for coverage through either the federal or state-based marketplaces, 523,973 have been deemed eligible for Medicaid and 220,225 have selected a QHP.
- Enrollment through State-based Exchanges (SBEs) account for 345,726 of the 523,973 (or 66%) deemed eligible for Medicaid. This may reflect higher take-up of the Medicaid expansion in SBM states, but it is also likely a reflection of challenges related to transferring Medicaid files from the federally facilitated marketplace (FFM) to state Medicaid agencies.
- SBEs account for 193,941 of the 220,225 (or 88%) individuals or families that have selected a QHP.
For additional information related to enrollments, see the November 13 enrollment report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For charts comparing federal and state marketplaces, see this Washington Post report.
Enrollment numbers have been steadily increasing in both the state and federal marketplaces. On December 1, the Obama administration announced that healthcare.gov now works for users more than 90 percent of the time, thus meeting its goal for improving the online marketplace by November 30.
