Charles Gaba's blog

Immediately after the Colorado ACA exchange released their final 2019 enrollment numbers comes Minnesota's...via MNsure...

MNsure reaches record-setting sign-up numbers in sixth open enrollment period

  • 123,731 Minnesotans sign up for private health coverage

ST. PAUL, Minn.—MNsure reported strong numbers during its sixth open enrollment period, which ended Sunday. Nearly 400 more Minnesotans signed up for coverage than during the previous open enrollment period, which ended with 123,334 sign-ups.

Hmmm...just as with Colorado, MNsure's official numbers don't quite jibe with CMS's official report from last year, which put MN's tally at 116,358 QHP selections...nearly 7,000 fewer than MNsure's number.

A pop-up message appeared on the home page of Connect for Health Colorado on Tuesday the 15th:

If you encounter long hold times today and are unable to get through to our Customer Service Center on Jan. 15 to complete your enrollment, please contact our customer service center no later than 6:00 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 18 to complete your enrollment. At that time, you must let the representative know that you were unable to get through on Jan. 15.

Oddly, the message didn't include C4HCO's actual phone number: 855 752-6749

Colorado was already within 0.5% of surpassing last year's enrollment total as of January 3rd (just 712 enrollees shy); I'm certain they've beaten that number already.

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.

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