The quasi-final 2013 tally for the ACA: more than 9 million insured

[babylonsister]

The quasi-final 2013 tally for the ACA: more than 9 million insured
By Michael Hiltzik
January 3, 2014, 2:23 p.m.


Enrollment figures for insurance under the Affordable Care Act are all over the place, largely because the act has so many moving parts: the individual insurance exchanges (federal and state), Medicaid (in expansion states and otherwise), children enrolled in their parents' employer-sponsored plans.

Keeping track of the numbers requires an obsession. So be thankful that one Charles Gaba has taken on the responsibility. Gaba's conclusion is that the ACA has brought insurance in one form or another to more than 9 million Americans, possibly 9.5 million.

As Josh Marshall observes at talkingpointsmemo.com, the number would have been much higher if all the states fulfilled their responsibility to bring insurance to their poorest citizens by expanding Medicaid--at federal expense. Estimates are that the refusal of 25 states to do so has left some 5 million of their residents in the cold. (Kudos to Josh for introducing Gaba to a wider audience.)

Gaba, a website developer in the Detroit area who has been compiling publicly available numbers on his own, without pay, has produced what looks like the most authoritative tally. His spreadsheet and an excellent graphic are here. His latest figures show that about 2.1 million people signed up for private insurance through the exchanges. That may understate the total, as some state figures are a week or two behind.

To that should be added some 4.3 million new enrollees in Medicaid or CHIP, the Children's Health Insurance Program reauthorized by the ACA as an adjunct to Medicaid. Then there's another 3.1 million young adults (those up to the age of 26) who have enrolled in their parents' workplace plans since September 2010. That brings the total to 9.5 million.

more...

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-10-million-insured-20140103%2c0%2c4855449.story#axzz2pJuXwOTy

[antiquie]

1. Two more months

during which a lot more uninsured (including me) will sign up.

[BenzoDia]

2. And the number will keep growing and growing.