UPDATE 4:00pm: OK, the HHS call is over now (see notes below), but now I'm on the Covered California call...and my kid gets off the school bus in 10 minutes, so it'll be a bit before I can post a fuller analysis of anything.
OK, everyone, here we go...a press call with the heads of HHS/CMS/HC.gov:
Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Andy Slavitt, Acting Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Kevin Counihan, CEO, Health Insurance Marketplace
Remember, last years' total exchange enrollment was around 11.7 million nationally (8.8 million via HC.gov). HHS's official projection for 2016 was only around 10% higher (officially between 11.0 - 14.1 million, with a midrange around 12.6 million or so), while mine was more ambitious (around 25% higher overall, or 14.7 million).
Regular readers know that although I do spend a lot of time updating this website, I do still have to do my day job running a website development firm. As a result, I'm simply not able to keep up with every healthcare-related hot tip which comes my way.
So, when the following link was forwarded to me a few days ago, while I did find out more details from the sender, I didn't happen to get around to actually posting anything about it before today:
UnitedHealthcare Announces Changes to 2016 Exchange Sales and Compensation
Over the past few months, we've seen an acceleration of changes in the health insurance market. UnitedHealthcare is continually evaluating all aspects of the evolving exchanges so that we can provide coverage options that best meet consumers' health care and financial needs.
Nearly every county in Washington saw a drop in the uninsured
The report highlights the positive impact of the federal Affordable Care Act in Washington with county-by-county data on the uninsured and the law’s effect on many segments of the population.
PROVIDENCE – HealthSource RI (HSRI) has released certain enrollment, demographic and volume data through Saturday, January 31, 2016 for Open Enrollment.
INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY ENROLLMENT • As of January 31, 2016:
34,670 individuals are enrolled in 2016 coverage through HSRI, paid and unpaid.
The majority of these individuals are 2015 HSRI enrollees that were auto-renewed into a 2016 plan.
7,538 of the 34,670 individuals have selected a plan for 2016 coverage and are new to HSRI this year or returning after being enrolled with HSRI at some point during a prior year.
32,286* of the 34,670 individuals are enrolled in 2016 coverage through HSRI, and have paid their first month’s premium.
*The number of paid enrollments is expected to increase as individuals pay for March coverage through the February 23 payment deadline.
This caused all sorts of shockwaves among the insurance industry, and of course gave ACA critics more ammunition with which to attack Obamacare as a whole, calling it evidence of the system being a failure, etc etc...even though several other major insurance carriers on the exchanges didn't seem to be complaining (or at least weren't making it out to be nearly as dire of a situation as UHC).
However, just to give you a taste of how jaw-dropping this hearing was, watch Rep. Elijah Cumming's question period with the head of Michigan's Dept. of Environmental Quality:
Isaac Bashevis Singer is famous for, among other things, his collection of Yiddish folk tales about The Wise Men of Chelm, a town in Poland which, according to the folk tales, was populated entirely by fools.
One of the stories about the people of Chelm was about a playground located near the top of a cliff. Every once in awhile, a child would fall off the cliff and injure themselves on the ground below.
The Wise Men of Chelm came up with an ingenious solution to the problem: They built a hospital at the bottom of the cliff. That way, the children could be rushed into the emergency room quickly for medical treatment.
...bans any public body or public official, except for “an election official in the performance of his or her duties,” from using public funds to issue any kind of communication that “references a local ballot question, and is targeted to the relevant electorate where the local ballot question appears on the ballot,” in the 60-day run-up to an election.
After the meeting in which the president tries to find areas of possible agreement with GOP leaders, [Republican Speaker of the House Paul] Ryan will hold another vote on repealing the Affordable Care Act. TheWashington Post reported:
The House is scheduled to vote Tuesday on overturning President Obama’s veto of legislation to repeal Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood. The vote, appropriately scheduled for Groundhog Day, is expected to fail, leaving conservatives to gear up for a final year of budget fights with the president.
Asked about today’s events, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters, “Republicans are poised to host another vote in the united states congress today for the 60th time to repeal Obamacare. It’s almost like it’s Groundhog Day, except today it is actually Groundhog Day and they’re doing it again.”
