964 more sign up for state Medicaid

Enrollment in Arkansas’ expanded Medicaid program continues to climb even as a federal website’s flaws present challenges for many who want to enroll in subsidized coverage made available under the same health-care overhaul law.

As of Monday, more than 54,000 people - out of an estimated 250,000 who are eligible - had enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program, an increase of at least 964 from the total six days earlier, Arkansas Department of Human Services spokesman Amy Webb said Tuesday.

More than 49,000 of those who have signed up since enrollment began Oct. 1 will be covered by private insurance plans under the so-called private option, while the rest were assigned to the traditional Medicaid program because they were determined to have exceptional health needs.

“We continue to see the numbers increase every week,” Webb said.

The expansion of the program, approved by the Legislature this year, extended eligibility for coverage to an estimated 250,000 adults with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level - $15,860 for an individual or $32,500 for a family of four.

Ninety percent of those eligible are expected to be able to sign up for plans offered on Arkansas’ health-insurance exchange, with Medicaid paying the premium, while those considered “medically frail” are being assigned to the traditional Medicaid program.

In addition to paying the premiums for those who sign up for private-option plans, Medicaid will cover out-of pocket costs for those with incomes below the poverty level and reduce those costs for others, depending on income.

For thousands of other Arkansans who do not qualify for Medicaid but have incomes below 400 percent of the poverty level, the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act makes tax-credit subsidies available to help them buy health insurance on the exchange. The income thresholds are $45,960 for an individual or $94,200 for a family of four.

Under the health-care law, the tax credits will be paid directly to insurance companies to reduce the premiums for plans offered on health-insurance exchanges set up in every state.

Coverage under the expanded Medicaid program and for plans subsidized by tax credits starts Jan. 1.

Enrollment in the tax-credit-subsidized plans has been hampered by problems with a federal website, healthcare.gov.

Those eligible for Medicaid, however, can enroll and choose a plan through a pair of state websites, access.arkansas.gov and insureark.org.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services hasn’t released numbers on those who have enrolled through healthcare.gov, although representatives of the four companies offering plans on the Arkansas exchange told state lawmakers late last month that the total in Arkansas was fewer than 200 people.

In a conference call with reporters Tuesday, Julie Bataille, a spokesman for the federal Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the agency was continuing to make improvements to the website and planned to send emails to about 275,000 people who attempted unsuccessfully to create accounts on the site in early October.

The emails offer instructions and tips for users ofhealthcare.gov and encourage the applicants to try again to create an account, Bataille said.

“The site is getting better each week, and by the end of November it will be working smoothly for the vast majority of users,” Bataille said.

Webb she wasn’t aware of any problems users have encountered with the state websites, except that access. arkansas.gov was taken down for about an hour in late October because of a problem with a federal data hub.

As of Monday, 49,787 people were enrolled in the private, Medicaid-funded plans, an increase of 636 from Nov. 5, Webb said.

In addition, as of Saturday, 4,639 people had been assigned to the traditional Medicaid program because of their health needs, an increase of 328 people from the total on Nov. 5.

So far, most of those who have enrolled have been recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, who received one of the more than 130,000 letters sent by the state Human Services Department in September informing them that they are eligible for coverage.

Those who responded to the letter and said they wanted to sign up were sent a second letter directing them to insureark.org, where they could complete a questionnaire designed to identify those who are considered medically frail.

Those found not to be medically frail could then choose a plan on the website.

Last week, the Human Services Department automatically assigned 40,405 of the food-stamp recipients to private plans. Those automatically assigned had failed to visit insureark.org within 12 days of receiving the letter directing them to the site or had failed to choose a plan after completing the site’s health questionnaire.

Those who were automatically assigned have 30 days to switch plans if they want.

The Human Services Department has not made any additional automatic assignments since last week, Webb said.

Initial applications for Medicaid coverage can be made through access.arkansas.gov, by calling a Human Services Department call center at (855) 372-1084 or by submitting a paper application to the department.

Just over a week ago, the department began determining the eligibility of those who had applied through the website or by phone or paper, Webb said.

Including those who have enrolled, 73,807 people had applied for coverage as of Saturday, up 1,418 from a week earlier.

A total of 64,445 applicants, including those who were enrolled and those who had not completed the process, had been determined eligible for coverage, up 980 from a week earlier, Webb said.