More Options, Expanded Savings Available Now During Washington Healthplanfinder’s 2021 Open Enrollment Period
Beginning Monday, Nov. 1, Washingtonians seeking health coverage can shop, compare and sign up by visiting Washington Healthplanfinder, the state’s online health insurance marketplace. The annual open enrollment period allows all new and existing customers a chance to sign up or change health plans for the upcoming year.
“As our communities begin to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, we know Washingtonians are looking toward the future,” said Exchange Chief Executive Officer, Pam MacEwan. “The security of health care coverage is an important part of the way forward for Washington. We encourage anyone looking for coverage to come take advantage of new options and more savings than ever before.”
Nov. 1, 2021 – Open Enrollment for 2022 health insurance begins today at the Massachusetts Health Connector, with more opportunities for enrollees to find financial assistance with their monthly premiums.
Open Enrollment runs through Jan. 23, 2022, with a deadline to apply, pick a plan, and make a first premium payment by Dec. 23, for coverage to begin Jan. 1, 2022. Open Enrollment is the time when individuals without health insurance can find coverage through the Health Connector without a qualifying reason.
“Access to affordable health care for individuals and families in Massachusetts is vital,” said Marylou Sudders, Secretary of Health and Human Services and Chair of the Health Connector’s Board of Directors. “Massachusetts has the highest insured rate in the nation, and Open Enrollment offers individuals the opportunity to apply and choose a coverage plan that meets their needs and provides security for their health and wellbeing.”
Monday, November 1st was the start of the official 2022 #ACA Open Enrollment Period (OEP) for anyone who needs quality, affordable healthcare coverage. The 2022 OEP is by far the best ever for the ACA coverage, with dramatically expanded financial help for millions more people (including many who weren't eligible last year), reinvigorated expert, unbiased assistance, more choices in many states and counties, and FREE policies for more people than ever before.
If you've never enrolled in an ACA healthcare policy before, or if you looked into it years ago but weren't impressed, please give it another shot now. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan (ARP), it's a whole different ballgame.
Here's some important things to know when you #GetCovered for 2022:
1. RESIDENTS OF MOST STATES HAVE MORE TIME, BUT YOU STILL SHOULDN'T DELAY!
UPDATE 11/19/21: The revised Build Back Better Act passed the House of Representatives this morning, so I'm re-upping this for a few days. It now moves to the Senate where it will likely be tinkered with a bit more; if it passes there, it will then move back to the House for one more final vote before hopefully being signed into law by President Biden. Make sure to also read about some additional revisions to the bill made after I wrote this post.
The legislative text of the updated Build Back Better (BBB) bill is now available, and as I suspected, for all the understandable disappointment about what isn't part of it any longer, there's a lot more healthcare-related stuff in there than most people think. A lot of it gets kind of wonky or may seem like "small potatoes" to most folks, but pretty much everything in it would make a huge positive impact on those it benefits.
A couple of hours ago, the Biden White House posted a completely updated version of what's being described as a "framework" for his Build Back Better policy agenda, which has been significantly pared down from the more ambitious version last spring. There are three main reasons for this: Congressional/Senate Republicans as a whole; Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia; and Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.
There's still no way of knowing whether or not this version of Biden's #BBB agenda will pass either, but assuming it does, here's what will make the final cut:
Back in September, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued several reports which touted the success of the 2021 COVID Special Enrollment Period. Thanks in part to enrollment being re-opened but mostly to the dramatically expanded financial aid provided by the American Rescue Plan (ARP), over 2.8 million additional Americans signed up for 2021 healthcare coverage via the ACA exchanges nationally.
This came on top of the 12.0 million who had already enrolled during the official 2021 Open Enrollment Period from November 1st, 2020 - January 31st, 2021. All told, that's 14.8 million Americans who selected Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) via the exchanges through mid-August.
The most remarkable thing about North Carolina's 2022 ACA carrier rate filings aren't the rate changes themselves--they range from -15% to +14.6%, nothing shocking--but the sheer explosion in competition coming to both the individual and small group markets.
NC's indy market is going from five carriers to ten in one shot, with Aetna, AmeriHealth, Celtic, Friday and UnitedHealthcare all jumping into the risk pool. On the small group side, there are two new entrants: Bright Health and Friday Health Plans.
In any event, overall, the average preliminary rate increase for unsubsidized enrollees is averaging 8.7%, while small group plans are going up by an average of 9.8%.
Back in early September, I wrote a post which gained quite a bit of attention in which I ran some back-of-the-envelope math to try and answer a question which is cold-hearted and tasteless...but which, nonetheless, many people across the political spectrum have been wondering: What will the real-world impact be on the 2022 midterm elections of the Red/Blue COVID divide?
There's a lot of factors which come into play here, including political messaging, narratives and the like, but let's be perfectly blunt: What people really want to know (whether they admit it or not...some have been cruder in posing the question than others) is whether more GOP or Dem voters are dying of COVID, and how much that will impact the midterms at the ballot box.
The 4 percent weighted average rate change for Covered California for Small Business is the second lowest since 2014.
Covered California’s small-business marketplace continues to expand, with more than 70,250 members to date and double-digit percentage membership growth for the seventh consecutive year.
Covered California for Small Business also announces an expansion of its four-tier offering as employers can now choose to offer employees the option of selecting from all metal tiers effective Oct. 1.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Covered California for Small Business unveiled the health plan choices and rates for small-business employers and their employees for the upcoming 2022 plan year. The statewide weighted average rate change is 4 percent, which represents the second-lowest annual increase in the program’s seven-year history. The rate change is lower than national projected increases for larger employers.
