Two of the reddest states in the nation had the largest numbers of people signing up for Obamacare. This reflects the size of their population but also their needs. Their governors may rant against the federal government and its programs, but actions speak louder than words. The public wants what the politicians deride. Yet the public elects the people who deny their basic needs.
Florida led the way with the highest number of people in the country who signed up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, with more than 3.2 million people enrolling, or 20 percent of the country’s totals.
A record 16.3 million people nationwide signed up for plans on the federal health insurance exchange during the open enrollment period, which began Nov. 1 and ended on Jan. 15, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reported Wednesday.
In Florida, enrollment ballooned to 3.2 million, a 19% jump over last year’s open enrollment period under the health law, commonly known as Obamacare.
The 3.2 million represents 20 percent of all enrollees nationwide, even though Florida, the third most populous state in the country with 22 million people, accounts for only about 7 percent of the U.S. population…
For University of Miami professor Dr. Olveen Carrasquillo, an expert on the Affordable Care Act, Florida’s enrollment spike is likely an indication ofoutreach efforts, a lack of jobs that provide health coverage, and that Florida is one of 11 states that did not expand Medicaid eligibility through the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
About 425,000 adults in Florida don’t have health insurance because they are too poor to qualify for coverage under the ACA and the state hasn’t expanded Medicaid, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. More than half of those adults are Hispanic or Black.
“It shows that there’s a major need for health insurance in our state,” said Carrasquillo, who serves as UM’s dean for Clinical and Translational Research and is also co-director of the Clinical Translational Science Institute.
Almost a million Floridians could lose their Medicaid coverage starting in April once the federal COVID-19 emergency comes to an end, and because Florida didn’t expand its Medicaid eligibility.
Floridians fall into this coverage gap because their incomes fall above the state’s eligibility for Medicaid but below the federal poverty line, making them ineligible for Medicaid, a health insurance program run jointly by the federal government and states.
They would also be ineligible for coverage within the Affordable Care Act marketplace. To qualify for Medicaid in Florida, parents must earn less than 31 percent of the federal poverty line, or less than $6,807 for a family of three, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates.
Texas has the second-highest enrollment in Affordable Care Act plans among states that used the federal marketplace, with 2.4 million enrollees, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/health-care/article271638107.html#storylink=cpy
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Tennessee is in there too, refusing to expand Medicaid. Hard to understand why, since this is refusing to take taxes already paid back home. They mouth slogans about “strings attached “ and “personal responsibility.” I don’t know.
I predict the DNC will drop the ball on this, completely miss the opportunity before them. Here’s an opportunity to educate the American people about how government should work for people. They will figure out a way to snatch irrelevance from victory.
The incompetence of the DNC is staggering.
And then there is their recent move to attempt to ensure that the first primaries are held in the most conservative of states, thus giving momentum to troglodytes.
It’s sickening.
Both Florida and Texas have lots of low wage employees and gig workers whose employers do not provide health care. Some of these workers may also qualify for a subsidy that will help defray of the cost. The ACA benefits also appeal to the self-employed who would pay more in the marketplace if they had to apply under an individual plan. My doctor has a sign in his office that reads, “Obama Care is better than I Don’t Care.” However, people would benefit a lot more if we offered universal health coverage like every other industrialized nation.
I support Medicare for All.
The only rich industrialized nation without universal healthcare, the USA. We’re lucky to have Medicare, Medicaid and the ACA, no thanks to the GOP. Just a mention of Medicare for all and the GOP screams SOCIALISM, SOCIALISM, SOCIALISM!!!! The party that wears assault rifle lapel pins is not interested in healthcare for US citizens.
Exactly, Jersey Joe. This is the party of I’ve got mine, screw you.
Obamacare?
Did you mean Romneycare?