As one of 21 states that have opted not to extend Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act, Louisiana has seen a slower gain in the share of its residents that have acquired coverage between 2013 and 2014 compared to most other states. That’s according to an analysis of new U.S. Census Bureau numbers by the Louisiana Budget Project, a Baton Rouge-based organization that provides independent research and analysis of Louisiana fiscal issues and their impact on low- and moderate-income residents.
“The new data shows Louisiana is losing ground to other states because of its failure to expand coverage,” reads the LBP analysis. “In 2013, Louisiana ranked 11th highest for the share of residents without health insurance. But in 2014, Louisiana jumped to seventh on that list as Medicaid expansion states made greater progress. Four states—Arizona, California, Mississippi and New Mexico—jumped ahead of Louisiana. Three of the four (all except Mississippi) expanded Medicaid.”
The Census data released Wednesday shows nearly 9 million Americans gained health coverage in 2014 due to the Affordable Care Act. The national uninsured rate dropped from 13.3% to 10.4%—even though the poverty rate and median household income were unchanged from the previous year, LBP notes.
Louisiana’s uninsured rate dropped from 16.6% in 2013 to 14.8%, which means 80,000 Louisianans got covered.
“But a staggering 672,000 Louisianans were still uninsured, leaving them with limited access to doctors and hospitals and vulnerable to financial calamity in case of an illness or injury,” says LBP, which has long advocated for the state to participate in the Medicaid expansion under the ACA.
See the complete LBP analysis. Today, the U.S. Census Bureau is set to release more details data on health insurance for states, as well as 2014 state-level data on poverty and income.
