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A huge spike in Medicaid enrollment in Pa. shows how devastating the coronavirus has been
And as unemployment dramatically spiked, reaching a high of 12% in April last year, thousands of people in the central Pennsylvania county turned to the government for health care.
Enrollment in the program rose by more than 388,000, or 13.7%, during the same time period — reaching 3.2 million people in February. The change represents a dramatic expansion of Pennsylvania’s social safety net, exceeding single-year Medicaid enrollment increases that occurred during the Great Recession, a Spotlight PA analysis found.
That’s in part because more people can apply for Medicaid than in the past. In 2015, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf expanded eligibility beyond specific groups — including people with disabilities, the elderly, pregnant women, and children — to adults who meet certain income requirements. Single adults between the ages of 19 and 64 are eligible if they earn about $17,775 a year or less.
And as unemployment dramatically spiked, reaching a high of 12% in April last year, thousands of people in the central Pennsylvania county turned to the government for health care.
Enrollment in the program rose by more than 388,000, or 13.7%, during the same time period — reaching 3.2 million people in February. The change represents a dramatic expansion of Pennsylvania’s social safety net, exceeding single-year Medicaid enrollment increases that occurred during the Great Recession, a Spotlight PA analysis found.
That’s in part because more people can apply for Medicaid than in the past. In 2015, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf expanded eligibility beyond specific groups — including people with disabilities, the elderly, pregnant women, and children — to adults who meet certain income requirements. Single adults between the ages of 19 and 64 are eligible if they earn about $17,775 a year or less.
