California: 197K *NEW* QHPs thru 12/15 (over 32K on Tuesday alone)

Color me impressed!

Covered California Experiences Record-Breaking Enrollment for Consumers Seeking Jan. 1 Coverage

More than 55,000 Sign Up Over Two Days As Covered California Extends Deadline for Consumers

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Covered California announced Wednesday that more than 197,000 consumers had enrolled in health care coverage by the end of Tuesday, Dec. 15, including more than 22,000 on Monday and more than 32,000 on Tuesday.

The two-day total of more than 55,000 surpassed the enrollment figures seen last year during the same two day period when more than 35,000 people signed up for coverage on Dec. 14-15, 2014.

“The interest we have seen over the last two days is further proof of the continued demand that Californians have for quality, affordable health care coverage,” said Covered California Executive Director Peter V. Lee. “We want to make sure that everyone who is working to get in the door has the time they need to get the coverage they deserve.”

In response to the huge demand, Covered California is giving consumers until Dec. 17 to sign up for health care coverage that will begin on Jan. 1.

“Based on the incredible demand we are seeing, we are encouraging consumers to avoid the last-minute rush,” Lee said. “Get in now and get covered for 2016.”

Consumers can enroll online by visiting www.CoveredCA.com, or they can get in-person enrollment assistance by visiting www.CoveredCA.com/get-help/local to find the nearest Certified Enroller. Enrollment assistance is free, confidential and available in a variety of languages. Consumers can also enroll over the phone by reaching Covered California at (800) 300-1506, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Open enrollment runs through Jan. 31. Consumers who enroll after Dec. 17 will have their coverage start in either February or March.

Covered California estimates that there are currently about 750,000 uninsured Californians eligible for subsidies, and it forecasts that between 295,000 and 450,000 consumers will newly enroll in coverage during open enrollment. An additional 1.4 million people statewide are believed to qualify for low-cost or no-cost Medi-Cal.

Unfortunately, again, Covered California has this thing about not releasing their renewal number until after the end of the year, so no matter how impressed I am with the new number, there's no way of knowing how many current enrollees are re-enrolling.

CoveredCA has about 1.3 million current enrollees to start with; if every one of those folks were to renew for 2016, they'd be up to 1.5 million (surpassing last year's total), but presumably not everyone will re-up.