Chicago Expands Medicaid Program

Cook County in Illinois has gotten an early start on the Affordable Care Act, beginning last week enrollment of about 115,000 residents into a local Medicaid program.

The Medicaid expansion in Cook County – which includes Chicago – comes a year early, and will kick off in January. County officials obtained a waiver from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to begin a year early. California obtained a similar waiver and has already started early Medicaid enrollment in its more populous counties.

Although Illinois' Medicaid program has been on rocky financial footing in recent years, Cook County bypassed it by agreeing to split costs directly with the federal government.

Under the waiver program, known as County Care, about 250,000 single adults under the age of 65 are eligible to enroll.However, county officials estimate they will enroll about 115,000 between now and the end of 2013. That's primarily because aggressive outreach will be made only to those county residents who have already sought care at public clinics.