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Medicaid expansion enrollment to begin in June

7 years 11 months 1 week ago Monday, April 18 2016 Apr 18, 2016 April 18, 2016 7:10 PM April 18, 2016 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - Governor John Bel Edwards announced that enrollment for Medicaid expansion will begin on June 1.

Edwards testified before the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare’s oversight hearing on the issue. During the hearing, Edwards and Dr. Rebekah Gee, secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals, discussed the positive impact Medicaid Expansion will have of the economy and working citizens of the state.

“For years, Louisianans have paid for Medicaid Expansion, only to see their tax dollars go to other states that have expanded the program,” Edwards said.

“This expansion of coverage will provide our working poor access to quality health insurance, while saving Louisiana more than $180 million, creating jobs, and assisting in our efforts to stabilize the budget.”

During his first day in office back in January,  Edwards signed an executive order to expand the Medicaid program in the state, a program that Louisianans were already paying for with their federal taxes.

The state pays 40 percent of the cost of care for those uninsured, but with the expansion, the state will not pay more than 10 percent of the cost.

“We have reached a critical milestone, and although the enrollment hasn’t begun, DHH is working diligently to make sure we have all of our processes in place to begin providing this coverage to Louisiana," Gee said.

“As we move forward, the governor and I will continue to find ways to reform the Medicaid program so it operates in the most efficient way possible for taxpayers,” she said.”

It is estimated that more than 300,000 in the state will benefit from the expansion with about 70 percent of enrollees being full-time employees in industries such as food, service, tourism and construction.

More information on how to enroll beginning June 1 will be available by visiting DHH’s website at: dhh.la.gov/ExpandingMedicaid

 

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