Enrollment in private, Medicaid-funded plans under the so-called private option grew by 852 people between Nov. 19 and Monday, raising the total number of people signed up for such plans to 58,591, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Human Services said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the number of newly eligible adults who applied for coverage and were assigned to the traditional Medicaid program because of their health needs rose by 226 to 5,185 as of Saturday, upfrom 4,959 on Nov. 16.
Including both groups, total enrollment in the state’s expanded Medicaid program rose to at least 63,776, an increase of about 1,000 people compared with a week earlier.
The expansion, authorized by the federal healthcare overhaul law and approved by the state Legislature this year, made about 250,000 people eligible for coverage that will start Jan. 1. Enrollment began Oct. 1.
“We continue to see people come to our website and apply every day,” Human Services Department spokesman Amy Webb said. “We count that as good news.”
The expansion extended eligibility for Medicaid to adults with incomes up to 138 percent of the poverty level - $15,860 for an individual or $32,500 for a family of four.
Most of those who enroll are expected to be able to sign up for private plans on the state’s health-insurance exchange and have Medicaid pay the premiums. About 10 percent - those identified as “medically frail” because of their health-care needs - will be assigned to the traditional Medicaid program.
So far, most of those who have enrolled in the expanded Medicaid program are recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, who received letters from the Human Services Department in September informing them of their eligibility.
More than 63,000 of those who received the letters responded, indicating they wanted coverage.
The department has also received almost 17,000 applications through a state website, access.arkansas.gov, by phone or on paper, the department’s figures indicate.
Including responses from food-stamp recipients and applications from those who have completed enrollment, the department had received 80,413 applications as of Saturday, an increase of 3,631 from a week earlier, Webb said.
Those who apply and are determined eligible are given 12 days to visit a state website, insureark.org, where they are asked to complete questionnaires designed to identify the medically frail. Applicants not found to be medically frail can then use the website to sign up for a plan.
Applicants who fail to choose a plan within 12 days are automatically assigned to a plan. They then have 30 days to switch plans. After that, they have to wait one year to switch.
The Human Services Department made 40,405 automatic assignments on Nov. 5 and 7,831 on Nov. 13. The assignments are now made on a “continuous basis,” as applicants fail to meet their deadlines for choosing a plan, Webb said. She didn’t have information on how many additional assignments have been made since Nov. 13.
State Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, who opposed the expansion of Medicaid, said Tuesday that he plans to continue pressing the department for more information about the assignments, which he contends are an improper use of the department’s authority.
Referring to the enrollees, he said, “I want those people making their own decisions.”
In addition to Medicaid assistance, many of the 500,000 Arkansans who lack insurance are expected to be eligible for tax-credit subsidies to help them buy insurance through the state exchange.
The tax-credit subsidies are available to those who don’t qualify for Medicaid and have incomes of less than 400 percent of the poverty level - $45,960 for an individual or $94,200 for a family of four.
Enrollment in the non-Medicaid plans been hampered by software flaws and other problems with a federal website, healthcare. gov, that was meant to allow people to compare plans and sign up for coverage.
After numerous attempts, starting Oct. 1, a reporter with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette was able to access the plan comparison and selection features of healthcare.gov for the first time Tuesday.
As improvements to the federal site have been made, the pace of enrollment has increased, insurance company representatives said Tuesday.
“Last month, there were only three days with double-digit numbers,” said Max Greenwood, a spokesman for Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield. “This month, that’s the norm.”
She added that the company is working with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to correct errors with applications the company receives through the site.
“I think it’s fair to say we have a ways to go to get the quality we hope for,” Greenwood said. “The good news is, the quality is improving.”
A company executive said last week that nearly 400 people had signed up for plans offered by the company or its national affiliate, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, as of Nov. 15.
Greenwood declined to provide an updated total Tuesday.
QualChoice Health Insurance Chief Executive Office Mike Stock said Tuesday that about 200 people had signed up through healthcare.gov for his company’s plans, up from about 50 in late October. He said the pace is still slow, however.
“We’re not getting hundreds and hundreds [of applications] every day or anything like that,” Stock said.
Those who qualify for Medicaid can start the application process throughhealthcare.gov, then complete enrollment with the state Human Services Department after their eligibility has been determined. The state has not yet received information about Medicaid applications made through healthcare.gov, Webb said.
Insurance agent Joe Childers and his business partner, Eric Townsend, have been using the federal and state websites to enroll small-business employees who are now covered by the Medicaid-funded ARHealth-Networks program, which is ending Dec. 31.
On Tuesday, Childers said, the two agents enrolled about 10 employees of a day care in Dermott.
About half qualified for Medicaid, and the others were enrolled in other plans on the exchange, Childers said. One woman’s application stalled, however, after a message on healthcare.gov said the federal computer system was unable to verify her identity, Childers said.
“Every time you get excited, thinking the thing’s going to start working on a regular, reliable and efficient basis, something will happen to make you want to cry,” he said.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 11/27/2013