by Kevin Niedermier
Federal and local officials are urging anyone without health insurance to see if they qualify for coverage through the Affordable Care Act before the enrollment deadline Jan. 31. They made their case Wednesday at the Free Medical Clinic of Greater Cleveland.
Cleveland Congresswoman Marcia Fudge said early last year nearly 600,000 Ohioans were receiving health care through expanded Medicaid under the ACA and a program for children of parents with too much income to qualify but not enough to afford private insurance. And she said the numbers are growing.
“And an additional 226,000 Ohioans have signed up for the ACA through Healthcare.gov as of Jan. 9, 2016,” Fudge said. “These are big numbers, it’s making an impact. And even though these numbers seem high, they’re not high enough, there are still those in our community without health care.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says most of the remaining uninsured are people between 18 and 34, and most of them are men. An estimated 18 million Americans now have health coverage through the Affordable Care Act.