Arkansas has enrolled the lowest percentage of healthcare exchange-eligible residents of any state nationwide, according to analysis done by a consortium of researchers from Rhode Island universities.
According to Robert Hackey, a professor of Health Policy and Management at Providence College, the Kaiser Family Foundation data shows only 19 percent of eligible Arkansans enrolled.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, 65,684 Arkansans were enrolled in insurance through the marketplace as of February 22, 2016.
"This really looks at the percentage of folks who are eligible, who actually signed up," he said. "So it's a sense of how well the state is actually reaching those who are uninsured, or low-income and eligible for subsidies, to get them to actually purchase coverage through the marketplace."
The national average of eligible enrollees who signed up was higher, at 34 percent. Although the calculation does not include the state’s expanded Medicaid population, at over 250,000.
In 2014, the Arkansas legislature banned public funding of outreach for the health insurance marketplace.
Overall, the state received a C grade for four combined categories, including premiums, number of new insurers added, and the overall enrollment increase. According to Hackey, that's in part because overall the state improved its progress rapidly in 2013 and 2014.
"Enrollment increased 51 percent from the first year to the second year," he said. The national average during that period was 46 percent, 2015 data was not available at the time of the study.
