More than 7,200 Arkansans were approved for coverage under the state's expanded Medicaid program last month, bringing the total number covered to 218,844, according to information released Monday by the state Department of Human Services.
Of those who had completed enrollment as of Oct. 31, 187,392 were enrolled in Medicaid-funded plans on the state's health insurance exchange under the so-called private option.
An additional 24,942 Arkansans had been assigned to the traditional Medicaid program because they were considered to have exceptional health needs.
The total number approved also included 6,510 people who had not yet completed enrollment.
"Obviously there's continued interest in the program," Human Services Department spokesman Amy Webb said.
The expansion, authorized under the 2010 federal health care overhaul law and approved by the state Legislature in 2013, extended eligibility for Medicaid-funded coverage to an estimated 250,000 adults under age 65 with incomes of up to 138 percent of the poverty level: $16,105 for an individual, for instance, or $32,913 for a family of four.
The private option uses federal Medicaid funds to pay the premiums for plans on the state's health insurance exchange and also provides additional subsidies that reduce or eliminate enrollees' out-of-pocket costs for medical care.
Enrollment began Oct. 1, 2013, for coverage that started Jan. 1.
The highest approval totals as of Oct. 31 were in the state's most populous counties. Pulaski County had the most, with 29,521 approved. Washington County followed, with 11,124 approvals, and then Benton County, which had 9,753.
The department's figures show that 59 percent of those approved were women. Sixty-six percent were ages 18-44; 34 percent were 45-64.
Eighty-one percent had incomes below the poverty level: $11,670 for an individual or $23,850 for a family of four.
Most people who are 65 or older are eligible for Medicare, the federal insurance program for the elderly and disabled, and are not eligible for the expanded Medicaid program.
The federal health care law makes tax credit subsidies available through the exchange to many people who don't qualify for Medicaid or Medicare and who have incomes below 400 percent of the poverty level: $45,960 for an individual, for example, or $94,200 for a family of four.
As of Nov. 15, 35,769 people were enrolled in nonprivate-option plans on the exchange, down from 36,582 as of Oct. 5, Arkansas Insurance Department spokesman Seth Blomeley said. All but 564 of the enrollees had made at least one month's premium payment.
Those who qualify for Medicaid can apply and sign up at any time. For others, enrollment in coverage on the exchange is mostly limited to annual open-enrollment periods.
The open-enrollment period for coverage starting in 2015 started Nov. 15 and runs through Feb. 15.
A Section on 11/25/2014