Enrollment in Medicaid under Ohio Governor John Kasich’s Obamacare expansion has rocketed to 285,553 in just six months, serving as a warning to other states still considering Medicaid expansion.

Including retroactive and backdated enrollment, 274,630 Ohioans were enrolled under Kasich’s Medicaid expansion in May and 255,425 were enrolled in April.

Gov. Kasich, a Republican, projected that 366,000 Ohioans would enroll in Medicaid under Obamacare by July 2015. Nearly all of those covered by Kasich’s Obamacare expansion are able-bodied childless adults.

In six months, enrollment already exceeds 78 percent of Kasich’s estimate for the program’s thirteenth month. The trend points to a heavier burden on taxpayers as even more Ohioans than anticipated are pushed from private insurance into Medicaid.

Actual June 2014 enrollment was likely much higher than the 285,553 reported last week; numbers for previous months have been revised sharply upward in subsequent caseload reports.

Most monthly figures from the Ohio Department of Medicaid “include estimates of retroactive/backdated enrollment and are subject to minor change,” but enrollment numbers for the Obamacare expansion “will change from month-to-month” because they cannot be easily estimated.

Even when upward revisions in prior months’ enrollment are factored in, the number of Medicaid recipients under Kasich’s Obamacare expansion has increased every month since the program began in January.

Revisions have been less dramatic in the past two months, but the January enrollment reported last week was nearly five times the first number reported this winter.

Initially, January enrollment was reported as 23,156. The following month, January enrollment jumped to 45,249 and February enrollment, at 54,031, was still higher than the revised January number.

In the most recent caseload report, enrollment of 115,394 was reported for January. Enrollment of 160,102 was reported for February, almost 3 times the initial figure.

Comparing the first enrollment numbers reported for each month to the latest numbers reported:

• March enrollment more than doubled, increasing  from 106,238 to 225,761
• April enrollment increased from 184,671 to 255,425
• May enrollment increased from 243,230 to 274,630

This story was originally published at Media Trackers.