The Washington Healthcare Exchange released a statement Thursday trumpeting what they say is a large jump in health insurance enrollment. But the actual number of clients purchasing insurance plans was only about 12 percent of the total!

The Healthcare Exchange, or Washington Healthfinder, says signups grew by 40 percent in November to a total enrollment of 77,000. Much has been made nationally about how successful Washington state's arm of Obamacare has been.

However, Newstalk 870 reported this week about how Obamacare is a two-part plan. One is clients enrolling in new health insurance plans, or replacing existing programs in the healthcare exchange. The other is Medicaid applicants, which is being largely ignored by most media outlets. The majority of people enrolling on Washington Healthfinder are applying for Medicaid coverage.

Applicants who qualify for and apply for Medicaid at Washington Healthfinder are either near the poverty level or elderly senior citizens. According to U.S. News and World Report:

"Medicaid is a state-run health insurance program for individuals, families, children, and people with disabilities under the age of 65. Individuals can qualify for Medicaid based on their income and family size.

If you currently have Medicaid: You're already covered and you don't need to worry about purchasing health insurance through the exchanges. Although you are ineligible to receive a tax credit through your state's health insurance exchange, you have the benefit of receiving free or low-cost health insurance through Medicaid. "

These are NOT the millions of Americans, especially those single-insured, who have seen their coverage cancelled, or premiums skyrocket due to Obamacare requirements. As we reported earlier this week, Medicaid is currently being funded by the federal government, and best-case scenario under the Affordable Care Act, it will be at least 90 percent funded by the government tax dollars. This huge Medicaid expansion has not only gutted senior citizens medical programs, but placed tremendous future burden on taxpayers for decades.

According to direct figures from Washington Healthplan Finder, of the 153,000-plus total applicants, only 55,773 are Qualified Health Plan (QHP) applicants.  QHPs are the health insurance plans just like the ones you might have through work and have been officially "approved" by the Affordable Care Act.

 

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