Blog & News
Medicaid “Early Opt-In” States
February 5, 2013:
February 5, 2013: The Affordable Care Act (ACA) gives states the option to expand Medicaid to 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level beginning in January 2014, but states can also choose to expand earlier using either a new state plan option and/or a Section 1115 waiver (see text box below). I can never remember which states (besides Minnesota of course) plus DC have taken advantage of the opportunity expand Medicaid before 2014 – the so-call “early opt-in” states. But the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) does excellent work keeping up on all the ACA-related changes to date, tracking this information on the Medicaid/CHIP portion of their website for quick and easy reference. KFF also provides a thorough synopsis of early expansion efforts as of May 2012 in this brief. As of January 2013, seven states and the District of Columbia have been approved to exercise the early expansion option—one using a State Plan Amendment (SPA), five using a Section 1115 Waiver, and two using both an SPA and a waiver (see table below). Each of the early expansion states and DC already had some type of state or county-funded program for low-income uninsured adults, and the early opt-in allowed them to cover some or all of the enrollees in these programs under Medicaid prior to 2014 and receive matching funds from the federal government for a portion of their costs through the Federal Matching Assistance Percentage (FMAP). The FY 2010 through 2012 FMAPS for each of the early expansion states are included in the table, along with the most recent early expansion enrollment numbers that are available online. Let me know if you find new enrollment data and we will add it here. |
*Coverage limited to St. Louis County | |
Sources |
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Enrollment Notes NJ --December 2012 General Assistance enrollment, see http://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/dmahs/news/reports/enrollment_2012_12.pdf WA—Q3 2012 rolling quarterly average of Basic Health transition eligible enrollees and Medical Care Services transition eligible enrollees, see http://www.hca.wa.gov/hcr/documents/waiver/Trans_Bridge_Dem_Qtrly_Rprt_October_2012.pdf
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