Short Cuts: Oregon enrollees mostly newly insured; SC rates only go up 1% on average

Oregon: Most ACA exchange enrollees previously uninsured, most consider themselves healthy:

Those are two of the findings of a survey released today by the Center for Outcomes Research & Education at Providence Health Services. The goals were to understand who enrolled, assess their connection to care before and after enrollment and to understand their health. At the time of the study, 76,569 Oregonians had signed up through open enrollment.

• 53% were uninsured when they signed up, with many going without coverage for a long time. Prior to coming to Cover Oregon, 38% were uninsured for a year.
• 24% were in self-pay plans, 13% had coverage through work, 1% were on Oregon Health Plan, 9% other coverage
• 77% said they had difficulty affording their old premiums, and 57% said main reason they came to Cover Oregon was for the tax subsidy

There's a bunch of other interesting data points at the link. The 53% newly insured is lower than the 57% average found by the Kaiser Family Foundation nationally, which of course means that it was up in the low 60% range in at least one other state.

South Carolina: ACA premiums to only go up 1% on average for 2015

Obamacare isn't driving health insurance premiums through the roof in South Carolina.

In fact, individual plans sold through HealthCare.gov or directly by insurance companies should only increase by about 1 percent in this state next year.

That's a relatively minor bump compared to some other states - and much lower than the 50 percent to 70 percent increase that South Carolina officials predicted a year ago.

Gee, imagine that!