Post-Obamacare, uninsured higher in ‘red’ states

[IronLionZion]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/post-obamacare-uninsured-higher-in-red-states-2014-07-09?dist=beforebell

Obamacare is more popular in some states than others, and the rates of those who were uninsured after the Affordable Care Act varies dramatically from state to state, new research finds.

Some 57% of people with Health Insurance Exchange coverage were uninsured prior to purchasing their current plan, according to a recent survey by the non-profit Kaiser Family Foundation. Most of this previously uninsured group went without coverage for two years or more, the report found, and 70% who were uninsured before Obamacare say they decided to buy insurance because of the law. (Estimates vary, however. Management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. estimated that only 36% of those with Obamacare were previously uninsured, while the Rand Corp. think-tank put it at 28%.)

Combining these estimates with new data on Medicaid recipients and private plan enrollees under Obamacare, financial website WalletHub estimated the uninsured rates post-Obamacare for 43 states and the District of Columbia. (Other states were excluded due to data limitations.) “Blue” Democratic states have fewer uninsured residents (with an average ranking of 15.9 on the list) than red Republican states (28.5): Massachusetts, Rhode Island, D.C., Hawaii and Oregon had the lowest uninsured rates post-Obamacare; New Mexico, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas had the highest.

People are signing up for health insurance, particularly in states that are expanding Medicaid and where the health exchange is working well, says Doug Whiteman, insurance analyst with Bankrate.com, a personal-finance research and publishing company. “Most states are reliant on the federal HealthCare.gov exchange, which has had its challenges,” he says. “But a few states, including Massachusetts, Kentucky and New York, have launched successful state-operated exchanges.” Some 12% of Americans have no health insurance, versus 15% last fall, according to a recent Bankrate survey.

The wallethub link is very interesting too: http://wallethub.com/edu/rates-of-uninsured-by-state-before-after-obamacare/4800/





Some red states have seriously screwed themselves. And some purple states should be ripe for the taking. I'm looking at Wisconsin, PA, Florida, and Maine. Virginia is having a tough fight over the medicaid expansion.

[cerveza_gratis]

1. Also pre-Obamacare?

[IronLionZion]

2. Yes, Obamacare didn't screw red states.

Red states chose to screw themselves to spite obamacare, mainly by avoiding the medicaid expansion and failing to build their own exchange, but some also went out of their way to block third parties from helping their citizens sign up. They are now faced with a less healthy population, and higher ER costs.