A few days ago I posted an article detailing how Obamacare was actually working, not failing. I stated that Obamacare was designed to mirror Canada’s transition from private insurance to single payer by expanding those who could be covered under, and making it easier to sign up for, Government funded / run healthcare programs (Medicaid, Medicare and CHIP aka Children’s Medicaid), while taking actions to make private insurance unaffordable (Like making Men carry maternity coverage for instance).
It seems I couldn’t have been more correct if I had written the law myself.
According to an article on FierceHealthpayer.com, out of the first 35,000 people who applied through the Obamacare exchanges in Washington State, 30,000 signed up for Medicaid:
About 396,000 Americans have learned they qualify for expanded Medicaid coverage made possible by the Affordable Care Act, USA Today reported. For instance, 72,000 Americans qualified for Medicaid in California. The first month of exchanges in Ohio saw 7,535 residents Medicaid-eligible, and that climbed to reach 275,000. And Michigan has experienced explosive Medicaid growth, where Blue Cross Blue Shield doubled business in this market segment in the last two years.
Many of the early enrollees through the state-operated health insurance exchanges are applying for Medicaid coverage. Washington State, for example, had as many as 30,000 of its first 35,000 exchange applicants enter the Medicaid program, FierceHealthFinance previously reported.
What was one of the reasons given for this sudden burst of enrollment in these Government healthcare plans? Easy enrollment of course:
Medicaid growth may be attributable to three factors, according to USA Today: Americans learning for the first time they’re Medicaid-eligible, streamlined enrollment processes under healthcare reform, and the fact that enrollment moves faster when people don’t need to comparison shop for insurance.
Man, I hate being right…
[…] I pointed out how Medicaid enrollment is proving my theory to be true as more individuals are signing up for Medicaid than they are for Private insurance in almost […]