Arkansas: QHPs up to 26K; Medicaid up to 105.5K

Several new numbers out of Arkansas. QHPs were at 21,763 at the beginning of February; I'll assume "late February" means around the 26th(?), so that's 4,237 in around 25 days.

On the Medicaid side, Arkansas' unusual "private option" system (in place of the standard Medicaid expansion) is a bit confusing as usual; technically the 94,000 people referred to are enrolled in "private" QHPs, but their bill is being footed 100% by Medicaid money, which is the more important factor here. The other 11,500 referenced were placed in "Medicare" although I'm pretty sure that's a typo and that it's supposed to read "Medicaid" (as in, "normal" Medicaid). It doesn't really matter, though; either way, both of these groups end up on the Medicaid side of the aisle, bringing Arkansas' total up from 79,000 to 105,500 new, ACA-enabled Medicaid recipients.

Already, as of late February, Wilson said 26,000 people had enrolled in the Health Insurance Marketplace and "had been transmitted to the (health) insurance carriers."

Regarding the Private Option, Wilson said there had been more than 190,000 applications by late February, which he said "demonstrates the need that was out there." Of those that applied, he said 127,000 had been determined eligible for the Private Option. Of those, about 11,500 were determined to be better served by Medicare [sic; pretty sure this should be Medicaid proper] due to having serious medical conditions while another 94,000 of the eligible individuals have been enrolled in private insurance, well more than a third of what Wilson said was anticipated.

"We're very much nearing the halfway mark, and getting over the halfway mark, in terms in meeting the expectations for enrollment. And what that means when you look at both the Private Option and those individuals who are receiving subsidies through the Health Insurance Marketplace, that's about 130,000 individuals that received coverage in the private marketplace.