Medicaid enrollment increased by 9% from March to May 2019.i (The first phase of Medicaid’s adult expansion started in April 2019, with adults in households up to 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) becoming eligible.) Enrollment increases were still modest between January and March 2020 (when eligibility moved to 138% of FPL), perhaps due to a robust economy. However, enrollment increased 8% from March to May 2020 amidst the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. When including June 2020, the increase was closer to 11%. Utah has seen some of the largest increases in enrollment in the nation, despite its relatively small increase in unemployment.ii
The increase in Medicaid enrollment during the pandemic is larger than the initial filings under Medicaid expansion in 2019.
Number of People Enrolled in Medicaid, Utah
Source: Utah Department of Health.
i Utah Department of Health, Utah Cases Served Report – Number of Persons, June 2020.
ii Robin Rudowitz, Bradley Corallo, and Samantha Artiga, Analysis of Recent National Trends in Medicaid and CHIP Enrollment, July 24, 2020, https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/data-note-analysis-of-recent-national-trends-in-medicaid-and-chip-enrollment/.
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