Medicaid covering more Alaskans than in past due to pandemic

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Tuesday, September 29th, 2020 6:25am

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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic has caused a national increase in the number of people enrolling in the federal Medicaid health payment program and Alaska residents are joining at unprecedented levels.

Juneau Public Media reported last Friday that more than 12,000 people in Alaska have joined Medicaid over the last six months.

The program, known in Alaska as DenaliCare and Denali KidCare, covered 232,735 participants as of Aug. 31.

That's nearly one in Alaska's every three residents and most are children.

Alaska residents signing up the most include women, young adults and residents of northern, western and southwest Alaska.

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