Arkansas: "Private" Medicaid Expansion jumps to 155K...70% of total eligible!

LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas officials say nearly 70 percent of those eligible have signed up for health coverage under the state's compromise Medicaid expansion program.

The Department of Human Services said Monday that 155,567 people have applied and been determined eligible for the state's "private option" program, which uses federal Medicaid funds to purchase private health insurance for the poor. DHS estimates that 225,000 Arkansans qualify for the program that was approved last year as an alternative to the Medicaid expansion envisioned under the federal health care law.

Hmmm...my own calculations (based on KFF estimates) has Arkansas down as having around 281,000 people "eligible for Medicaid" who aren't currently insured, but that may just mean that the 56K difference are potential  "woodworkers". In any event, this is still huge news.