Massachusetts: 26.3K QHPs thru 11/15; up 40% vs. last year

Press release from the Massachusetts Health Connector...

BOSTON – November 20, 2017 – With a stable system and user process complemented by a proactive outreach and education effort, the Massachusetts Health Connector has seen members and new applicants more active in the first two weeks of Open Enrollment compared to last year.

Through Nov. 15, plans selected and enrollments are more than 40 percent higher than last year at the same time, new program determinations for Health Connector are up nearly 70 percent, and plans selected and enrollments by new members are up more than 15 percent.

“It is encouraging to see people hearing our message to shop for new coverage, and taking early advantage of Open Enrollment and finding the plan that best fits their needs for the new year,” said Louis Gutierrez, the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Health Connector. “We hope all of our current members take time to review their coverage for next year, and people who don’t currently have health insurance sign up so they have the health and financial security that comes with having coverage next year.”

In the first 15 days of Open Enrollment, 26,343 people selected a plan or enrolled by paying their first premium for 2018, compared to 18,695 in the first 15 days of last year’s Open Enrollment. Of those plan selections and enrollments, 7,219 people are getting new coverage through the Health Connector, compared to 6,200 last year. So far in the first 15 days of Open Enrollment, 15,713 new people were determined eligible for Health Connector coverage, compared to 9,314 last year.

Open Enrollment runs from Nov. 1, 2017 through Jan. 23, 2018, longer than the federal period, which ends Dec. 15. The Health Connector has fully funded Navigator enrollment assisters for 2018, is implementing a full outreach and education campaign that includes marketing and grassroots visibility efforts, and is fully staffing customer service operations to provide comprehensive support to those that need assistance.

The Health Connector currently serves more than 250,000 individuals with health insurance, and another 6,000 who get their health insurance through their employer via Health Connector for Business. About 73,000 people receive dental insurance through the Exchange. New applicants and renewing members can go to the Health Connector’s website, MAhealthconnector.org, to secure coverage.

OK, so that's a total of 26,343 QHP selections, which is the official main measure used by HC.gov and most of the state exchanges, so it's what I use as well (generally speaking, around 10% of those who select policies don't actually pay their first monthly premium or are cancelled before they even get to that point due to legal residency issues/etc).