CONCORD - The state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) postponed the release of a study on expanding Medicaid because the consulting and research team encountered problems with air travel because of Hurricane Sandy.

The briefing originally was slated for Friday but now will be Thursday, Nov. 15, at 2 p.m. in the DHHS' Brown Building, 129 Pleasant St.

The consultants are located in the mid-Atlantic region, and air travel to the Northeast remains a challenge, according to a DHHS news release.

The report by the Lewin Group, a health care and policy consulting firm, is the first of a two-phase analysis of the state's option to expand its Medicaid program. States may expand Medicaid coverage to individuals with incomes under 138 percent of the federal poverty level, based on the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on the Affordable Care Act, known familiarly as Obamacare.

The Lewin report provides information on the number of residents who would be eligible for expanded coverage and associated costs to the state.

The second part of the analysis, expected to be completed by year's end, will address what a Medicaid expansion will mean to the state's economy, state budget and commercial insurance market.