Idaho is the poster child for states that have refused Medicaid expansion, and still seen surging enrollments,
according to new survey data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's thanks to the "woodwork effect," the people who logged onto the exchanges to see what options were available, and discovered that they were eligible for Medicaid. It's not just Medicaid that's reducing the uninsured rate.
It found a 3.4 percentage point reduction in the number of adults under 65 lacking health insurance between 2013 and the second quarter of this year. Its findings are not a surprise—earlier, private polls had shown similar drops. But because of its sample size and methods, the CDC study is the most reliable sign yet that millions more Americans have gotten health insurance this year.
If all states, however, had taken the Medicaid expansion
more than three million would now have coverage.