Significantly fewer uninsured adults and children are eligible for Medicaid coverage in states that are not implementing the Medicaid expansion at this time, resulting in large populations remaining uninsured within "coverage gaps" according to a recent report by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Eligibility for healthcare coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act varies by state depending on whether or not a state expands Medicaid. While all legal residents with incomes of up to four times the poverty level are eligible for Medicaid coverage in states implementing the expansion, many adults below the poverty level will fall into a coverage gap and be refused coverage in states not implementing the expansion.
The following 10 states have the largest populations within the coverage gap among the 23 states that have not expanded Medicaid.
1. Texas — 1.05 million uninsured fall into the coverage gap
2. Florida — 764,000
3. Georgia — 409,000
4. North Carolina — 319,000
5. Louisiana — 242,000
6. South Carolina — 194,000
7. Missouri — 193,000
8. Alabama — 191,000
9. Virginia — 191,000
10. Indiana — 182,000*
*Editor's note: Indiana is still debating expanding Medicaid.