Great interactive map of ACA success. Compare KY/WV to TN/VA for effect of R governor.

[pampango]

Obamacare Geographic Implementation Overview

A new data set provides a clearer picture of which people gained health insurance under the Affordable Care Act:

http://delong.typepad.com/.a/6a00e551f08003883401b8d0868704970c-pi

Key takeaways:

1. Having a state government that expands Medicaid is, of course, overwhelmingly the most important factor: look at Kentucky-WV vs. Tennessee-Virginia, or Arkansas-Missouri.

2. A state government that tries to hide the existence of the exchange-marketplaces from people can (largely) do so, and can cause a huge amount of damage in implementation: look at Wisconsin, Kansas, or Montana.

3. Even in states that did not expand Medicaid and where the state government did not lift a finger to inform people of the exchange-marketplaces, Hispanics have been signing up for insurance in numbers significantly greater than I had expected–look at the Texas-Mexico border.

6. “The effects of John Roberts re-writing the ACA’s Medicaid expansion are felt in Mississippi…. ‘”We work hard at being last”, said Roy Mitchell, the beleaguered executive director of the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program, when we met in Jackson. “Even a dog knows the difference between being tripped over and being kicked”‘. This reflects an infliction of pain and suffering and death than was eminently avoidable. If you’ll forgive me for reiterating, it’s nearly impossible to overstate how terrible this decision was.

Who remains uninsured in 2014:

http://delong.typepad.com/.a/6a00e551f08003883401b7c6fc9003970b-pi

http://equitablegrowth.org/2014/10/29/obamacare-geographic-implementation-overview-wednesday-focus-october-29-2014/

There are great interactive maps of who has gained coverage under the ACA and who remains uninsured but I couldn't get them to show here.