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CNS
News
Americans
on Medicaid Exceed Population of UK
April
7, 2014
By
Terence P. Jeffrey
(CNSNews.com)
- The number of Americans who were enrolled in Medicaid at any time
during fiscal 2013 exceeded the entire population of the United
Kingdom, according to new data published by the federal government’s
Medicaid and CHIP Payment Access Commission (MACPAC).
Were
Medicaid a nation instead of a U.S. entitlement program it would be
the 20th most populous country on earth.
"The
estimated number of individuals ever covered by Medicaid remained
steady at 72.7 million in FY 2013, compared to 72.2 million in FY
2012," said MACPAC's statistical report, released on April 1.
The
United Kingdom has a total population of 63,742,977, according to the
Central Intelligence Agency. Thus, Americans who were enrolled in
Medicaid at some point last year outnumbered all of the people in the
U.K.
The
72.7 Americans on Medicaid in fiscal 2013 also exceeded the
populations of Thailand (67,741,401), France (66,259,012) and Italy
(61,680,122), according to the population numbers published in the
CIA's World Factbook.
The
latest report from MACPAC revised downward by 0.4 million (from 72.6
million) the number of people who had been enrolled in Medicaid in
fiscal 2012. "The number of individuals ever covered by Medicaid
grew by less than 2 percent, from an estimated 71.7 million in FY
2011 to 72.6 million in FY 2012," said a MACPAC report released
a year ago.
Medicaid,
a federal-state partnership, is a means-tested entitlement program
that provides health care to low income individuals.
The
Affordable Care Act, which requires all individuals to have health
insurance, also expanded Medicaid, requiring states to extend
Medicaid coverage to people earning up to 133 percent of the federal
poverty level. The Supreme Court ruled that the federal government
could not compel states do this, making the expansion optional for
state governments.
The
business and economic reporting of CNSNews.com is funded in part with
a gift made in memory of Dr. Keith C. Wold.
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