Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released Medicaid enrollment data that sheds light into how many people have gained Medicaid coverage though the Affordable Care Act. According to CMS, more than 3.2 million Medicaid beneficiaries were able to sign up for Medicaid in 22 expansion states because they fell into the group of newly eligible adults.

As of the end of March 2014, 54.1 million people were enrolled in Medicaid. In Medicaid expansion states, there were 4.7 million people that fell into the new adult group (referred to as the VIII Group Enrollees), 3.2 million who are in the aforementioned newly eligible group, and 1.5 million who enrolled in Medicaid but who were not newly eligible.

According to the Urban Institute, there are about 15.1 million uninsured adults who could gain coverage through state Medicaid expansion. States that have extended coverage to adults directly help children by lowering the rate of uninsured children, increasing families’ financial security by protecting against high medical costs, and improving children’s care with healthier parents.

Research has proven over and over that putting out the welcome mat for families to gain coverage leads to higher coverage rates for children. Promising enrollment trends for newly eligible adults post ACA will hopefully prove to improve enrollment rates for children.