Welp. With last weeks news that House Republicans have decided to once again go to war with the Affordable Care Act if they gain a federal trifecta this November, it's time once again to take a look at just how many of their constituents are at risk of losing their healthcare coverage entirely or, at best, facing massive premium increases (which in most cases would have the same effect by making their coverage cost far more than they could possibly afford).
Alongside this weekends release of the final, official 2024 ACA Open Enrollment Period (OEP) data, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has also pulled together estimates of how many residents of each Congressional District selected ACA exchange plans during the 2024 OEP:
This is, of course, extremely important since household income is one of the most critical factors in calculating how much financial assistance enrollees receive (or if they're eligible for Advance Premium Tax Credits (ATPC) at all).
If you've ever wondered why healthcare wonks (myself included) almost never even bring up the ACA's Catastrophic Level plans and why the only time I ever discuss Platinum Plans is in the context of high-CSR enrollees being eligible for "Secret Platinum" plans (labeled as Silver), this table should explain why.
Next up: Age brackets, gender, racial/ethnic groups and urban/rural communities. I'm also throwing in the stand-alone Dental Plan table here for the heck of it since I don't know where else to include it.
I don't have a ton to say about any of these, really. It's always interesting to me to see that 1.7% of ACA exchange enrollees are 65 or older. Not sure why they aren't on Medicare but I'm sure there are logical reasons.
Now it's time to move on to the actual demographic breakout of the 2024 Open Enrollment Period (OEP) Qualified Health Plan (QHP) enrollees.
First up is breaking out new enrollees vs. existing enrollees who either actively re-enroll in an exchange plan for another year or who passively allow themselves to be automatically renewed into their current plan (or to be "mapped" to a similar plan if the current one is no longer available).
The table below has the data for both Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) in all 50 states + DC as well as Basic Health Plan (BHP) enrollment in Minnesota and New York only, compared to the 2023 OEP.
Nearly a decade after then-Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin nixed a plan for a publicly funded system, advocates have renewed a push to transform health care with a single-payer system.
About 60 House Democrats have signed onto a proposal that calls for eventually replacing private health insurance premiums in the state with a public financing system. This week, supporters of the plan announced the creation of a universal healthcare caucus to push for the approval of the single-payer system.
The bill’s primary sponsor, Rep. Brian Cina, D-Burlington, said despite efforts to bring down the rate of uninsured Vermonters, thousands of people are still without healthcare coverage. He said those who may be eligible for healthcare plans have “fallen through the holes of a tattered social safety net.”
Last month I noted that Michigan legislative Democrats were planning on passing a package of bills designed to repeal a bunch of restrictions on abortion & other reproductive healthcare:
Dems to end 24-hour abortion waiting period, ban on Medicaid funding of procedure
LANSING — Michigan Democrats said Wednesday they will repeal laws that require a 24-hour waiting period to have an abortion performed, impose what they say are costly and unnecessary regulatory burdens on abortion clinics, prohibit abortions funded by Medicaid, and ban private health insurers from automatically covering abortions under standard policies.
