On a recent weekday evening, Ibrahim Hassan was pacing the narrow corridor outside a Somali mosque in south Minneapolis, buoyantly shaking hands and waving like a politician at a campaign stop.
His mission: To sign up every eligible uninsured person he met for public health coverage through the state’s MNsure website. His mobile “office” consisted of a foldout table, a laptop and a small sign that read, “We can help you” in Somali and “Obama Care.”
Though much attention has focused on the March 31 deadline to buy private health insurance — and the consumer frenzy that resulted — federal health reform and the debut of MNsure have also led to a historic surge in the number of Minnesotans enrolling in public programs.
All told, nearly 99,000 Minnesotans have signed up for subsidized coverage through Medical Assistance, the state’s version of Medicaid, since MNsure’s launch six months ago. Average monthly enrollment in the program is projected to reach 835,000 this fiscal year, up 13 percent from 2013 — the largest year-over-year surge in at least 15 years and, percentage-wise, one of the largest in the nation.
And the numbers almost certainly will climb higher. While open enrollment has closed for private coverage, eligible Minnesotans can still apply for public programs such as Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare, and the strenuous push to reach poor and uninsured Minnesotans is still forging ahead. Most of MNsure’s 800 trained helpers, known as “navigators,” continue to fan out to libraries, shopping malls, barber shops and other locations in a sustained effort to reach the estimated 440,000 Minnesotans who lack insurance.
“There was a perception that we were going to fold up our tents and go home” after April 1, Hassan said. “But we’re still here.”
The resulting expansion of public coverage is unprecedented in scope. Supporters of President Obama’s 2010 health law cite it as a victory, noting that it has cut the number of uninsured Minnesotans and arguing that it will improve the health of vulnerable families and children.
“I am celebrating that we have so many people signing up for public programs,” said Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson. “We made it easier for people to enroll, and now we’re staying on them as long as they are eligible.”
Skeptics warn it could pose a long-term threat to the state’s fiscal health. Although the federal government will pick up more than 90 percent of the cost of expanding Medicaid coverage in the first nine years, state spending on the program is forecast to reach $4.57 billion this year, double the amount spent a decade ago.
MNsure does not track the percentage of new enrollees who previously lacked insurance. But state officials say the surge of enrollments almost certainly is driving down the state’s rate of uninsureds. After rising sharply during the Great Recession, from 7.2 percent in 2007 to 9.1 percent in 2011, Minnesota’s uninsured rate fell to 8.2 percent in 2013.
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His mission: To sign up every eligible uninsured person he met for public health coverage through the state’s MNsure website. His mobile “office” consisted of a foldout table, a laptop and a small sign that read, “We can help you” in Somali and “Obama Care.”
Though much attention has focused on the March 31 deadline to buy private health insurance — and the consumer frenzy that resulted — federal health reform and the debut of MNsure have also led to a historic surge in the number of Minnesotans enrolling in public programs.
All told, nearly 99,000 Minnesotans have signed up for subsidized coverage through Medical Assistance, the state’s version of Medicaid, since MNsure’s launch six months ago. Average monthly enrollment in the program is projected to reach 835,000 this fiscal year, up 13 percent from 2013 — the largest year-over-year surge in at least 15 years and, percentage-wise, one of the largest in the nation.
And the numbers almost certainly will climb higher. While open enrollment has closed for private coverage, eligible Minnesotans can still apply for public programs such as Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare, and the strenuous push to reach poor and uninsured Minnesotans is still forging ahead. Most of MNsure’s 800 trained helpers, known as “navigators,” continue to fan out to libraries, shopping malls, barber shops and other locations in a sustained effort to reach the estimated 440,000 Minnesotans who lack insurance.
“There was a perception that we were going to fold up our tents and go home” after April 1, Hassan said. “But we’re still here.”
The resulting expansion of public coverage is unprecedented in scope. Supporters of President Obama’s 2010 health law cite it as a victory, noting that it has cut the number of uninsured Minnesotans and arguing that it will improve the health of vulnerable families and children.
“I am celebrating that we have so many people signing up for public programs,” said Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson. “We made it easier for people to enroll, and now we’re staying on them as long as they are eligible.”
Skeptics warn it could pose a long-term threat to the state’s fiscal health. Although the federal government will pick up more than 90 percent of the cost of expanding Medicaid coverage in the first nine years, state spending on the program is forecast to reach $4.57 billion this year, double the amount spent a decade ago.
MNsure does not track the percentage of new enrollees who previously lacked insurance. But state officials say the surge of enrollments almost certainly is driving down the state’s rate of uninsureds. After rising sharply during the Great Recession, from 7.2 percent in 2007 to 9.1 percent in 2011, Minnesota’s uninsured rate fell to 8.2 percent in 2013.
READ MORE
http://ift.tt/1iMPzGg
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