37,000 New Yorkers fully enrolled in health exchange, mostly into Medicaidhttp://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013310230045
ALBANY — Nearly 174,000 New Yorkers have applied for health insurance through the state’s new exchange program, and 37,030 have fully enrolled, the state Health Department said Wednesday.It’s the first time that the state has detailed how many people have actually enrolled in the program. Previously, they would only say how many had signed up through the state’s website, but not how many had actually picked a health provider.
The uninsured customers often found that they were eligible for Medicaid, the federal health insurance for the poor and disabled, the state said.
“Our marketplace is operating very smoothly, and we are pleased to see that tens of thousands of individuals and small business owners across the state are turning to nystateofhealth.ny.gov to access low-cost health insurance,” said Donna Frescatore, executive director of NY State of Health, the exchange’s name, in a statement.The federal government continued to be besieged by problems with its own health-exchange site, which is handling the enrollment for 36 states.
New York, however, has established its own site, and it too was overwhelmed by visitors when it first launched. The website had more than 30 million hits in the first week it opened.
State officials said the problems have been resolved, and people should no longer have troubles registering online and picking from about 16 health-care providers to get insurance. |
