The Kansas Health Institute report, “Insurance Exchange will provide many Kansas consumers with new options” estimates numbers for the state as a whole. While more than 500,000 Kansans may consider purchasing insurance through the Exchange, only
- 193,000 are most likely since they will qualify for tax credits/premium discounts;
- 75,000 less likely because they don’t qualify for these;
- 245,000 whose purchase behavior is unknown depending upon what their employers do; and
- an additional 43,000 who will qualify for tax credits if Kansas does not expand Medicaid. This latter population unfortunately will find insurance unaffordable even with the tax credit.
Summary from report:
2014, the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate will require nearly all U.S. citizens to have health insurance. The health reform law also requires each state to have an online marketplace known as a health insurance exchange where people can obtain insurance.
This new issue brief — the eighth in a series focusing on health reform — examines which Kansans would be most likely to use a health insurance exchange.
Key findings of the brief include:
• More than 500,000 Kansans would have some reason to consider using the health insurance exchange to obtain coverage, though some are more likely to use it than others.
• About 1.7 million Kansans are likely to continue with the coverage they have now.
• The exchange will provide small employers and their workers with more options.
• The exchange will serve as a gateway for determining eligibility for federal tax credits as well as Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.”