Enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) rose by 9.7 million during the first nine months of 2014, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Figures released by HHS on Dec. 18 show a 17% increase over enrollments during the same period in 2013, before the opening of federal and state health insurance marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act.
The HHS said the decline in the number of Americans without health insurance is the largest since the 1970s, and the percentage of uninsured Americans is the lowest in the past 50 years, citing figures gathered by the Council of Economic Advisers.
The HHS said the number of those insured through federal and state marketplaces will continue to grow until enrollment closes on Feb. 15. “Enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP happens year-round,” the agency noted.
In addition, it said, states can at any time expand their Medicaid programs to cover more people. Several states that had not taken advantage of the Medicaid expansion options available under the ACA, including Indiana, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming, have announced that they plan to do so.