The Affordable Care Act (ACA) extends health insurance coverage to people who lack access to an affordable coverage option. Under the ACA, as of 2014, Medicaid coverage is extended to low-income adults up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) in states that have opted to expand eligibility, and tax credits are available for middle-income people who purchase coverage through a health insurance Marketplace. Millions of people have enrolled in these new coverage options, but millions of others are still uninsured. Recent analysis shows that 27% or 8.8 million of the 32.3 million non-elderly uninsured are eligible for Medicaid coverage. This issue brief provides a closer look at key characteristics of the uninsured who are eligible for Medicaid and where they live. Analysis is based on state Medicaid expansion decisions as of January 2016 which includes Louisiana's decision to adopt the expansion. These data may help inform outreach and enrollment efforts to increase coverage gains among the eligible but uninsured population.
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