Finally, more than two years after the program kicked off nationally, Louisiana officially started enrollment to expand Medicaid. The first person signed up on the state’s website, healthy.la.gov, at 8:05 a.m. Wednesday. The Department of Health and Hospitals has already been in contact with 175,000 residents the department believes will qualify.
DHH got permission this week from federal officials to use food stamp income eligibility to automatically qualify uninsured recipients for Medicaid.
Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration is smart to find ways to simplify the enrollment process. Louisianians were wrongly left out of the program for too long because former Gov. Bobby Jindal refused the extra federal money.
Tulane Medical School resident Sarah Candler told Gov. Edwards Wednesday that some of her patients were in tears when they learned they now would be covered.
“Many of them are newly eligible today, so that means patients I’ve wanted to prescribe certain medications to, I’ve wanted to get screening tests for and haven’t been able to do so … Today that changes,” she said.
A patient’s ability to get screening tests, better medications or preventive care could be life-changing. “At the end of the day … we’re going to improve health outcomes,” Gov. Edwards
Article source: https://health.einnews.com/article/329218998/pGs3rW4UovNKr_0H?ref=rss&ecode=uiQ1mLaH2KVPSS4e