Enrollment in the state's healthcare program for the poor has soared past expectations as a result of President Obama's federal overhaul, Gov. Jerry Brown said Tuesday, and by next year about a third of Californians will be covered, costing hundreds of millions of dollars more than anticipated.
[...]
Officials say 1.4 million more people will be enrolled in Medi-Cal than previously expected, bringing the total to 11.5 million by next year. There's now a backlog of 900,000 applicants waiting to be processed.
The exploding enrollment partly reflects California's poverty rate, the highest of any state, according to a recent study from the U.S. Census Bureau. To qualify for Medi-Cal, a family of three must have income of no more than $27,311 annually.
The federal government pays the full cost of patients who became eligible for Medi-Cal under the Affordable Care Act, and billions of dollars are expected from Washington for that purpose.
But the state is responsible for half the tab for people who were already eligible but hadn't signed up. This second group is now expected to grow 60% more than originally projected.
"The good news is now they have healthcare coverage," said Assemblyman Richard Pan (D-Sacramento). "But … we should've had them on board earlier."
Medi-Cal costs are pegged at $1.2 billion more than anticipated in January, with half that sum due to higher enrollment, officials said.
With all the publicity surrounding Obamacare, people "came out of the woodwork" to register for Medi-Cal, said Diana Dooley, the top official overseeing healthcare in Brown's administration. "The outreach was successful and people responded."Read the full story HERE.
Want to bet that a LARGE portion of these people enrolled in Medi-cal are ILLEGALS?
If you like what you see, please "Like" us on Facebook either here or here. Please follow us on Twitter here.
No comments:
Post a Comment