LANSING – Michigan’s expanded Medicaid eligibility plan, the Healthy Michigan plan, has gained more than 300,000 enrollees in about 11 weeks since it went live on April 1. Department of Community Health officials said the program had 301,645 enrollees on Wednesday.
The state updates publicly the enrollee figures every Monday, and two days ago the state showed that more than 297,000 people had enrolled in the program, meaning it would be just a matter of days before the program cracked the 300,000 mark.
In a press release to mark the number, Governor Rick Snyder said that more than 300,000 people are enrolled in the plan shows that the state is “moving in the right direction for the health of our residents and our state.”
Community Health Director James Haveman said the number is a testament to the hard work department officials had exerted along with community partners. The program is making a difference to people’s lives, he said, and, “we’re greatly encouraged by the strong demand we’ve seen since the launch.”
In fact, since the state expected to reach 320,000 enrollees during the first year, and eventually serve 477,000 state residents, at the current pace of signups for the program the state could see that 320,000 number be eclipsed before the end of July.
The program allows individuals with incomes of up to 133 percent of the federal poverty rate to sign up for health care coverage. Initially, the federal Affordable Care Act required all states to expand Medicaid eligibility to that level, but the U.S. Supreme Court held in 2012 that was unconstitutional.
Agreeing to the expansion was one of the most intense fights in the Legislature during 2013.
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