Replies

"Some of the early Medicaid surge may have to do with the relative ease of finding potential enrollees who already use public programs. Arkansas and Oregon, for example, sent notices to hundreds of thousands of food stamp beneficiaries who the states knew to fall below Medicaid’s income cutoff. To enroll, they simply needed to make a phone call or return the form.

“We weren’t sure what to expect,” Arkansas Medicaid spokeswoman Amy Webb said. “We have been very pleased with the response.”

Ms. Webb lies. This is exactly what they were expecting. This was their plan all along.

From a story about it early this year:

"Earlier today, the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services notified state officials in Arkansas that it has approved the states' Medicaid expansion plan. And this is not any old expansion plan: Arkansas will be the only state in the country that will use Medicaid dollars to purchase private health insurance for its new public program enrollees."

"There are about 200,000 Arkansans who qualify for the Medicaid expansion. Instead of having them enroll in the public program, like other states will do, Arkansas will send them to their new health insurance marketplace to buy individual plans. When they get to the point of purchase, the Medicaid agency will foot the tab for their health insurance coverage."