This KFF brief examines eligibility and the enrollment processes for Medicaid and CHIP and the subsidies available for insurance purchased through the law’s health exchanges.  The brief outlines individual components of the law that alter eligibility and enrollment and explains their impact on the programs.

From the report:

On March 23, 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) became law, requiring most U.S. citizens and legal residents to have health insurance and establishing a state-based system of health benefit Exchanges through which individuals can purchase coverage, with financial support for those between 133–400% of the federal poverty level, and expanding Medicaid eligibility to those with income below that level. A number of provisions in the ACA require states to design and operate coordinated, technology-supported enrollment processes to assist Americans who lack access to affordable employer-based coverage in obtaining health coverage through Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or the Exchange. The law requires states to develop consumer-friendly application processes for these health subsidy programs, coordinate across them to enable seamless transitions, and reduce the burdens of application and renewal by minimizing the up-front information and documentation required to establish eligibility and instead developing procedures that tap available data from other sources.

Full report: Eligibility and Enrollment Processes for Medicaid, CHIP, and Subsidies in the Exchanges (PDF | 217.73 KB)  

Kaiser Family Foundation. (2010). Eligibility and enrollment processes for Medicaid, CHIP, and subsidies in the exchanges.