Arkansas: 34,000 people CONFIRMED to be screwed over by GOP if Halbig is upheld

Hat Tip To: 
deaconblues

OK, that may seem like an awkward way of shoehorning the Halbig decision into what's otherwise a simple state-level enrollment update entry, but the two are joined at the hip, since the state in question (Arkansas) happens to be one of those being run through Healthcare.gov:

A total of 185,000 persons have enrolled in expanded Medicaid and another 40,000 have bought insurance in the Obamacare exchange—together nearly half of all the previously uninsured citizens in Arkansas. When the new governor takes office, some 215,000 will be enrolled in expanded Medicaid alone. Will Hutchinson and, indeed, most Republican legislators want to end medical coverage for so many of their neighbors and constituents?

As contributor deaconblues notes, the exchange QHP total for Arkansas was 44,665 as of 4/19, which means that my estimate of 90% paid (40,199) would appear to be dead on target...except that there's also almost certainly been another 3,000 - 4,000 more people who have enrolled since that time, bringing the paid percentage down somewhat. On the other hand, there's no "as of" date provided for the 40K figure quoted above, so perhaps that's referring only to how many of the 4/19 total have paid up, though I would imagine that it runs through mid-July.

That aside, what this does provide is proof that at least 40,000 living, breathing (and, for the most part, voting) Arkansas residents have enrolled in QHPs via the HC.gov exchange, and around 34,000 of them (assuming 85% received subsidies) are about to have a rude awakening if this morning's Halbig decision is upheld by the full DC Circuit Court and/or the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, on the Medicaid expansion side, the total has jumped from 172,000 to 185,000 people. Again, assuming this is as of mid-July, that's an impressive increase...and it means that Arkansas has now enrolled 82% of the appx. 225,000 residents eligible for it.

Advertisement