Charles Gaba's blog

Covered California has announced a policy similar to Colorado's just-announced "in line by midnight" policy, although in a more formal and less-restrictive way:

Covered California Offers to Help Consumers Who Get Caught in Surge of Last-Minute Shoppers on Final Day of Open Enrollment

Gov. Newsom Urges Uninsured to Get Covered Before Midnight Deadline Tomorrow as Covered California Continues Promoting Enrollment

  • Consumers have through Jan. 15 to sign up and select a plan, through Covered California or directly with health plans, for Feb. 1 coverage.
  • Gov. Gavin Newsom promotes enrollment for the estimated 1.1 million uninsured Californians eligible to enroll in Covered California or Medi-Cal.
  • Covered California research shows that 82 percent of uninsured consumers surveyed, who are eligible for financial assistance, do not know that they qualify.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday urged Californians who need health insurance to enroll as Covered California continued promoting coverage statewide before the deadline to enroll on Jan. 15.

“Covered California is in the final two days of open enrollment. That means if you are without health insurance, you need to sign up by Tuesday, Jan. 15, to secure health coverage,” Newsom said.

I just updated AccessHealthCT's numbers a week ago; it looks like they only added 428 more people over the next seven days:

With the clock ticking, Access Health CT’s latest statistics show they are closing in on last year’s numbers.

As of Friday afternoon there are now 109,126 Connecticut residents enrolled in insurance plans through the exchange. The deadline for enrolling was extended to Jan. 15. 

Last year 114,000 Connecticut residents enrolled in plans sold on the exchange.

CT is just over 5,000 signups shy of last year's 114,134 QHP selection total. They probably added a couple hundred more over the weekend (weekends are always slower anyway), but the odds of matching last year's total by tomorrow (Tuesday) night are extremely slim. My guess is they'll end up between 110K - 111K.

From Covered California:

Covered California’s Iconic Bus Tour Rolls into San Francisco to Promote Health Insurance Enrollment Ahead of Final Deadline

  •  Covered California’s bus tour promotes enrollment and encourages consumers to see if they are eligible for financial help in obtaining quality health insurance.
  •  The San Francisco visit coincides with the release of Governor Gavin Newsom’s budget which focuses on making health care more affordable through increased financial help and a state individual shared responsibility provision.
  •  Consumers have through Jan. 15 to sign up and select a plan, through Covered California or directly with health plans, for Feb. 1 coverage.
  •  An estimated 1.1 million uninsured Californians are eligible to enroll in Covered California and research shows that 82 percent of uninsured consumers surveyed, who are eligible for financial assistance, do not know that they qualify.

This just in from the MA Health Connector:

Update from us, as of last Friday:

  • 277,029 paid enrollments
  • 7,615 plans selected/unpaid
  • 284,969 total, per CMS enrollment definition
  • We have 47,573 new enrollees.

Once again: Massachusetts has managed to outperform their ACA enrollment numbers every year for five years running:

  • 2014: 31,695 (major technical problems)
  • 2015: 140,540 (complete platform overhaul)
  • 2016: 213,883
  • 2017: 266,664
  • 2018: 267,260
  • 2019: 284,969 and counting...

Just as impressive, if not more so: 97.2% of Massachusetts ACA enrollees have already paid their first monthly premium, which is well above the ~90% national average.

BLOCK GRANTS FOR MEDICAID — A Trump plan is in the works. Scoop today, behind the firewall right now. https://t.co/2PdVQKPoLH

The Trump administration is plotting a path for Medicaid block grants for states, a longstanding GOP goal to rein in spending on the entitlement program. News from me and @ddiamond https://t.co/EPkeqlPiSV

— Rachana D. Pradhan (@rachanadixit) January 11, 2019

— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) January 11, 2019

Per admin sources, CMS has guidance to states in the works on the topic. Officials also very aware of the political sensitivities surrounding such a plan.

— Rachana D. Pradhan (@rachanadixit) January 11, 2019

Yesterday I wrote about the current status of several federal lawsuits against the Trump Administration over the decision to stiff contractors (i.e., health insurance carriers) out of nearly $2 billion in Cost Sharing Reduction reimbursement payments.

This morning I wrote about the current status of the infamous #TexasFoldEm lawsuit brought by 20 Republican Attorneys General and Governors against the ACA, and the impending appeal of Judge O'Connor's ruling in their favor.

But there's more Big Deal ACA litigation in the works as well...and while the Trump Shutdown has brought some of them to a standstill, Harris Meyer of Modern Healthcare reports that others are still churning along:

I haven't written anything about the developments in the #TexasFoldEm anti-ACA lawsuit in awhile, partly because I was out of the country for a couple of weeks and got backlogged. Then again, things are kind of at a standstill at the moment anyway, so perhaps that omission on my part isn't quite as big of a deal as I had feared.

Anyway, here's some of what's happened since Judge O'Connor's lousy ruling on December 14th:

A federal judge in Texas who recently declared the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional has stayed his ruling to allow for appeals.

That means “Obamacare” remains in effect while litigation continues.

REMINDER from MNsure.org...

Last chance: MNsure Open Enrollment Period Ends this Sunday, January 13
January 10, 2019

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Minnesotans have until midnight on Sunday, January 13, to secure health insurance coverage through MNsure for 2019. Those who enroll by the deadline will have coverage that begins February 1.

"MNsure is the only place to get financial help to save money on your monthly premium," said MNsure CEO Nate Clark. "More than half of all MNsure enrollees are receiving tax credits."

Minnesotans can see if they qualify for financial help, while also comparing medical plans side by side, by using MNsure's plan comparison tool.

MNsure has extended Contact Center hours in the days leading up to the final deadline:

Earlier this week, newly-sworn-in Governor Gavin Newsom announced several proposals for improvements to California's implementation of the Affordable Care Act along with some other important healthcare-related measures. The most important ACA-specific ones were:

  • Reinstating the individual mandate penalty at the state level, as New Jersey, the District of Columbia, Vermont and Massachusetts have (VT's doesn't kick in until next year, and MA simply reverted back to their own pre-ACA mandate penalty), and
  • Enhancing ACA subsidies and expanding them to those earning 400-600% of the Federal Poverty Level

Newsom didn't include any details on either proposal, but I assumed that the mandate would simply reinstate what it was under the ACA before being repealed by Congressional Republicans in December 2017 ($695 per person or 2.5% of household income), and that the expanded subsidies would simply take the existing ACA formula (which limits the cost of benchmark Silver plans to no more than 9.86% of household income and provides subsidies to cover the difference after that), and raise the cut-off point from 400% FPL to 600% FPL.

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