North Carolina: ACA Medicaid expansion reaches 400K

via North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper:

Today, Governor Cooper announced that more than 400,000 North Carolinians now have access to health care through the state’s Medicaid expansion following record enrollment numbers and a coordinated campaign to enroll North Carolinians across the state.

“So many younger, working people desperately need affordable health insurance and Medicaid Expansion fills the bill for thousands of them and with people all the way through age 64,” said Governor Roy Cooper. “This milestone and the speed at which we’ve reached it shows just how lifechanging Medicaid expansion is for our state and we will continue to get more eligible North Carolinians enrolled.”

“We got it done and we got it done well!” said N.C. Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley. “We continue to see how truly life changing access to health care is for all North Carolinians, as a growing number of people each day are able to see a doctor to address physical health, behavioral health, and dental care, get prescriptions filled, and much more."

This number represents more than two-thirds of the 600,000 people North Carolina expects to enroll over the next two years. Since December 1, North Carolina has enrolled an average of more than 1,000 people per day in Medicaid expansion – a pace faster than other states that have expanded Medicaid.

Many people who have enrolled through Medicaid expansion are young adults between the ages of 19 and 29 and work part-time or full-time. New enrollees also disproportionately live in rural communities. The number one county with the highest number of enrollees per population is Robeson County.

For the more than 400,000 new enrollees, Medicaid has already provided more than 705,000 prescriptions for things like heart health, diabetes and other illnesses, and covered more than $11.2 million in claims for dental services since the December 1 launch.

The NCDHHS Medicaid Expansion website includes information on eligibility, FAQs, how to apply and a sign-up form to receive the latest news and updates. To learn more or apply for NC Medicaid, visit Medicaid.nc.gov.

At that rate, NC will hit 600K by right around Election Day, although obviously it may not actually reach every eligible resident; according to KFF, over 7 million uninsured Americans are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP but haven't enrolled in either program for one reason or another.