New York: ~188,000 QHPs thru 12/12; still running 13% ahead of last year

About a week ago, New York State of Health reported they had enrolled 166,000 people in Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) as of December 7th, plus another 710,000 in their Essential Plan (NY's name for the BHP program). The QHP number was around 13% ahead of the same point last fall.

Today they provided another (partial) update:

Press Release: As Major Enrollment Deadline Approaches, NY State of Health Enrollment Remains High 

Dec 13, 2017

New Yorkers Are Encouraged to Enroll by Friday, December 15th for January 1st Health Coverage

ALBANY, N.Y. (December 13, 2017) - NY State of Health, the state’s official health plan Marketplace, today announced that enrollment continues to increase as consumers approach the important December 15th deadline to enroll for coverage that starts January 1, 2018.  Since last reported, enrollment in Qualified Health Plans and the Essential Plan has increased by an additional 32,000 people, continuing to outpace enrollment at the same point last year by 13 percent.

“The deadline to enroll in coverage that starts January 1st is quickly approaching – consumers are encouraged to act now,” said NY State of Health Executive Director Donna Frescatore. “We know from spikes in enrollment numbers over the past few weeks that New Yorkers are eager to enroll in Marketplace plans, a trend that is likely to intensify as the December 15th deadline approaches.”

Website traffic remains strong with nearly one million unique visitors since November 1stand reflecting an increase of nearly 185,000 people since last reported.  There have been over 52 million page views on the NY State of Health website since November 1 – an increase of 11 million since last reported.  In addition, the Customer Service Center has answered more than 865,000 calls since November 1st - up 180,000 calls since last reported.  Website and call volumes are expected to increase as the December 15th deadline approaches.

Open Enrollment in a Qualified Health Plan continues through January 31st, 2018. Enrollment in the Essential Plan, Medicaid and Child Health Plus is open all year.

Unfortunately, they didn't provide a breakout between QHPs and BHPs, but I can use the "13% higher" figure to get a rough idea:

• NY's QHP total as of 12/10/16 was 166,156 people
• A 13% increase on top of that would be around 187,700, a net increase of 21,500.
• That would leave another 10,500 or so added to the BHP program, giving it a total of around 720,500 enrollees.

It's possible that the additional 32K is skewed more towards BHPs than that, of course, but this is the best I can do for the moment; no doubt NYSoH will be issuing numbers through 12/15 next Monday regardless, so if I'm wrong I'll correct it then.