Rhode Island: 29.3K QHPs thru 12/24; lowering my target to 31K.

Rhode Island is one of three states (along with Washington and Massachusetts) which allowed people to enroll for January coverage as late as December 23rd. RI's numbers have also included auto-renewals for some time now, so today's report includes everyone whose 2017 policies will kick off effective this Sunday, January 1st:

INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY ENROLLMENT  •  As of December 24, 2016

• 29,312 individuals are enrolled in 2017 coverage through HSRI, paid and unpaid.
• The majority of these individuals are 2016 HSRI enrollees that were auto-renewed into a 2017 plan.
• 2,839 of the 29,312 individuals have selected a plan for 2017 coverage, and are new to HSRI this year or returning after being enrolled with HSRI at some point prior.
• 18,959 of the 29,312 individuals are enrolled in 2017 coverage through HSRI, and have paid their first month’s premium.

This is...not good news, to be frank. Last year at this point, the Rhode Island exchange had 33,896 people enrolled as of 12/26/15. Yes, there were 2 extra days tacked on, but they were both after the December deadline and fell on Christmas Day and the day after Christmas; given how small Rhode Island is to begin with, I guarantee you the enrollments for those 2 days were in the single digits. Even if you round up this year's tally to an even 29.5K, it's still 13% below last year as of the same point in time.

Last year, Rhode Island only tacked on another 774 people between Christmas and the end of January. Assuming they're able to bump this up by, say, 55% to an even 1,200, their grand total would still only come in at around 30.5K, or 12% below last year's total.

I was hoping RI would be see an impressive increase this year to around 40,000 people given their nominal rate hikes...but that doesn't appear to be in the cards. I'm therefore lowering my 2017 Open Enrollment Period projection for Rhode Island down to 31,000.

SHOP ENROLLMENT  •  As of December 24, 2016

• Small employer accounts created: 2,483
• Small employer applications completed: 1,007
• Small employer enrollment (paid): 617
• These employers represent 4,924 covered lives
• 92% of small employers are enrolled in the Full Choice Model.
• 90% SHOP renewal rate (2016 to date).