More than 1,700 Arkansans were approved for coverage under the state's expanded Medicaid program last month, increasing the number of people approved to 241,103, a spokesman for the state Department of Human Services said Thursday.
Those approved as of March 31 included 205,252 people who were receiving coverage through private, Medicaid-funded plans under the so-called private option.
In addition, 24,347 people were assigned to the traditional Medicaid program because they were considered to have exceptional health needs.
The remaining 11,504 Arkansans had been approved for coverage but had not yet completed enrollment.
The number of people added to the program in March was lower than in most previous months. For instance, from November through February, on average, more than 5,000 people were added each month.
Human Services Department spokesman Amy Webb said she didn't know the reason for the lower number of approvals in March.
"It's a number that we expect to fluctuate," she said.
Arkansas created the private option as the state's primary way to expand Medicaid coverage to adults with incomes up to 138 percent of the poverty level: $16,105 for an individual, for instance, or $32,913 for a family of four.
Enrollees receive coverage through plans on Arkansas' health insurance exchange, with the Medicaid program paying the premium and providing additional subsidies that reduce or eliminate a participant's required out-of-pocket spending for medical care.
Enrollment began in Oct. 1, 2013, for coverage that started in 2014.
State officials initially estimated that the expansion would make 250,000 people eligible for coverage.
Citing concerns about the cost of the program and opposition from some legislators and other Arkansas leaders, Gov. Asa Hutchinson has called on a legislative task force to recommend alternatives for replacing the private option in 2017, after the federal waiver authorizing the program expires.
In the meantime, later this month, the Human Services Department expects to begin verifying whether private-option enrollees who have been on the program for at least a year have incomes that would still qualify them for coverage.
More than 155,000 Arkansans had been approved for coverage as of March 31, 2014. Information wasn't available Thursday on how many of those people were still enrolled a year later.
Department Director John Selig told legislators last month that the checks could result in 10 percent to 20 percent of the program's enrollees being dropped.
The first round of checks has been delayed because of an ongoing overhaul to the department's 25-year-old electronic eligibility verification system, Webb said.
Federal officials have given the state until September of this year to conduct the first checks, although state officials expect to have them done well before then, she said.
Enrollees whose monthly incomes indicate they are no longer eligible for coverage will receive a notice giving them 10 days to provide proof of their eligibility, Webb said. If they don't provide proof, their coverage will end on the last day of the month.
The dropped enrollees will be directed to visit healthcare.gov to enroll in other coverage through the state's federally run exchange, Webb said.
The Human Services Department will send federal officials information on the enrollees' income for a determination on whether the enrollees would qualify for tax-credit subsidies to help them buy coverage.
The subsidies are available to those who don't qualify for Medicaid and who have incomes below 400 percent of the poverty level: for example, $45,960 for an individual or $94,200 for a family of four.
Private-option enrollees are responsible for reporting any changes in their income throughout the year, state officials have said.
Recovering any Medicaid funds spent on enrollees after they were no longer eligible will be up to the federal government, Webb said.
"If the federal government chooses to try to recoup those funds, they can do so," Webb said.
Metro on 04/17/2015