South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has
rejected Medicaid expansion in no uncertain terms: South Carolina, she says, “will not expand Medicaid. Ever.”
Except that it is. The state expects to see a 16 percent jump in Medicaid enrollments by June, 2015. That's higher than the average 12 percent growth many states which have accepted the expansion money are predicting.
Why is this? Because South Carolina has so many poor people, many of whom just didn't know that Medicaid was an option for them until they found out about the health insurance mandate and looked for insurance.
South Carolina officials say publicity for the Affordable Care Act and its requirement that most people get insurance will attract tens of thousands of people who are currently eligible for Medicaid but have not enrolled.
"The awareness component is huge," said Tony Keck, South Carolina's Medicaid director. [...]
Still, because the state has strict limits on its Medicaid program, many of the new enrollees are expected to be children. Advocates for the poor applaud the effort but say the state has missed a good opportunity to help more people, especially adults, with a program expansion.
"This doesn't make up for the fact that a couple hundred thousand people who would have been covered are being left behind," said Susan Berkowitz, director of the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center, an advocacy group for the poor. "It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth."
That means the Medicaid rolls in South Carolina will grow by about 162,000 people by the middle of 2015. Had the state expanded Medicaid, another 340,000 people would get coverage. As it is, at least many more children will be covered, and their parents will probably find out in the process that if their governor hadn't been such an asshole, they would have coverage, too. That's also the case in Idaho and Utah, which should also see about 14 percent jumps in enrollment, again mostly children.
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