Over 1,000 people have signed up for expanded Medicaid in the last two weeks according to the Alaska health department.
State officials are projecting that 20,000 low-income residents might sign up for the Medicaid program that was expanded September 1.
Alaska Department of Health and Social Services spokeswoman Sarana Schell said the last two weeks has seen a steady influx of applications.
As we previously reported, 32 new applications were received at the Kenai Public Assistance Office on the first day of expansion.
The Legislature’s lawsuit against Governor Bill Walker continues after he decided to accept federal money for the expansion without the consent of the state lawmakers.
Representative Mike Chenault said the main point of the lawsuit is that Governor Bill Walker is breaking the Alaskan Constitution by possibly allocating state funding in the future.
Rep. Chenault(R-Nikiski): “We realize that the federal government is going to pay for 90% of it up front but what happens in five years when it goes to 50%? What are the ramifications of all the aspects of it? We don’t know that yet. We know the numbers that the department and others have showed us but we’ve also looked at numbers from other states and see that in some states it’s 93% higher than what they originally thought it would be.”
Rep. Chenault said he has not spoken to any legislators who are opposed to Medicaid expansion but it must be done correctly.
According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 17.2 percent of Alaskans were uninsured last year.