More than 500,000 Pennsylvanians, including 110,954 from Philadelphia, have signed up for Medicaid since Gov. Wolf expanded the program this year, helping the state's uninsured rate drop to 8 percent from 14 percent, the governor said Thursday.
The gain in Philadelphia represents a 27 percent increase from Dec. 31, when 415,776 Philadelphians were enrolled in the state's HealthChoices Medicaid program.
Soon after taking office, Wolf decided to abandon his predecessor's hybrid Medicaid expansion, opting instead for the Affordable Care Act route, which allowed individuals who earn up to $16,243 a year and couples who earn up to $21,983 annually to enroll in Medicaid.
Statewide, 59 percent of the new Medicaid enrollees are white, 23 percent are African American, 10 percent are Hispanic, and 4 percent are Asian, the governor's office said.
Philadelphia, which was home to 25 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries last December, accounted for 22 percent of the state's 504,336 new enrollees The statewide increase from December was 30 percent.
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