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| Applicants stand in line at Panorama Mall in Panorama City to sign-up for Covered California at an enrollment event Friday.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times / March 28, 2014) |
L.A. TIMES
President Obama's healthcare law, despite a rocky rollout and determined opposition from critics, already has spurred the largest expansion in health coverage in America in half a century, national surveys and enrollment data show.
As the law's initial
enrollment period closes, at least 9.5 million previously uninsured
people have gained coverage. Some have done so through marketplaces
created by the law, some through other private insurance and others
through Medicaid, which has expanded under the law in about half the states.
The tally draws from a review of state and federal enrollment reports, surveys and interviews with insurance executives and government officials nationwide.
The tally draws from a review of state and federal enrollment reports, surveys and interviews with insurance executives and government officials nationwide.
The millions of newly insured also create a politically important constituency...
Precise figures on national health coverage will not be available for months. But available data indicate:
• At least 6 million people have signed up for health coverage on the new marketplaces, about one-third of whom were previously uninsured.
• A February survey by consulting firm McKinsey & Co. found 27% of new enrollees were previously uninsured, but newer survey data from the nonprofit Rand Corp. and reports from marketplace officials in several states suggest that share increased in March.
• At least 4.5 million previously uninsured adults have signed up for state Medicaid programs, according to Rand's unpublished survey data, which were shared with The Times. That tracks with estimates from Avalere Health, a consulting firm that is closely following the law's implementation.
• An additional 3 million young adults have gained coverage in recent years through a provision of the law that enables dependent children to remain on their parents' health plans until they turn 26, according to national health insurance surveys from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• About 9 million people have bought health plans directly from insurers, instead of using the marketplaces, Rand found. The vast majority of these people were previously insured.
• Fewer than a million people who had health plans in 2013 are now uninsured because their plans were canceled for not meeting new standards set by the law, the Rand survey indicates.
Republican critics of the law have suggested that the cancellations last fall have led to a net reduction in coverage.
That is not supported by survey data or insurance companies, many of which report they have retained the vast majority of their 2013 customers by renewing old policies, which is permitted in about half the states, or by moving customers to new plans.
We are on target to exceed what was estimated," Lisa Sbrana, counsel for New York's insurance marketplace, said on a recent call organized by Families USA, a Washington-based advocacy group that supports the law. About 70% of New Yorkers signing up for coverage through the marketplace or Medicaid were previously uninsured, Sbrana said. In Kentucky, about 75% of the state residents signing up on that state's marketplace or for Medicaid had no insurance, a state study indicates. As of Friday, more than 280,000 new people had enrolled in Medicaid in Kentucky, or nearly 91% of the residents officials estimated would become eligible for the program this year.
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The solid enrollment in the first year has built a foundation that for now appears robust enough to support more growth next year.
In several states, including Rhode Island, Connecticut, Kentucky, Iowa and South Dakota, more insurers are looking to join state marketplaces when second-year enrollment begins this fall, according to marketplace and insurance industry officials.
And after initial resistance, a growing number of states with GOP governors or legislatures are looking to expand coverage further.
New Hampshire's Legislature just voted to expand its Medicaid program. Utah, Indiana and Pennsylvania are looking for ways to do the same.