New Report: 42 Percent of Uninsured in States Not Expanding Medicaid May Have No Coverage Options in 2014
<p>If the states that have so far not chosen to expand Medicaid eligibility don’t eventually do so, as many as two of five recently uninsured adults in those states will likely have no new affordable health insurance options next year, according to a <a href="/publications/issue-briefs/2013/sep/states-hands-how-decision-expand-medicaid-will-affect-most">new Commonwealth Fund study. </a></p><p>The U.S. Supreme Court, in upholding the Affordable Care Act, ruled that the federal government cannot require states to expand Medicaid eligibility, and currently 26 states have said they will not, or may not, expand their Medicaid programs in 2014. In these states, the lowest-income adults—those earning below the federal poverty level—will not have access to either the Medicaid expansion or subsidized private insurance through the new state insurance marketplaces. </p>
<p>"If states don't expand their Medicaid programs, adults with the lowest incomes will continue to live without the health and financial security provided by the Affordable Care Act," said Commonwealth Fund vice president and study coauthor Sara Collins. </p>
<p>Visit <a href="/publications/issue-briefs/2013/sep/states-hands-how-decision-expand-medicaid-will-affect-most">commonwealthfund.org</a> to read the new study and view <a href="/publications/infographic/2013/sep/millions-lose-chance-coverage-if-states-dont-expand-medicaid">our infographic.</a> </p>