New York: Final OE5 Tally: 253K QHPs, 738K BHPs, 375K CHIP

This Just In, courtesy of Dan Goldberg of Politico New York...

.@charles_gaba NY releases final numbers --253,102 in QHP with 41% receiving NO financial assistance. (That's amazing!) 738,851 in Essential Plan 374,577 in Child Health Plus

— Dan Goldberg (@DanCGoldberg) February 1, 2018

New York had already broken their 2017 numbers (just barely) a couple weeks ago, so this is effectively icing on the cake: Total QHP selections are up 4.2% year over year vs. the 242,880 they signed up last year.

As Goldberg notes, it's also eyebrow-raising to see that the ratio between subsidized/unsubsidized enrollees has remained almost identical as last year...around 59% subsidized, 41% unsubsidized. The conventional wisdom was that it would shift towards a higher subsidized percentage this year regardless of the total numbers, as unsubsidized enrollees were expected to drop coverage altogether at full price.

Basic Health Plan (BHP) enrollment (the Essential Plan) is also higher year over year: 738,851 vs. 665,318 last year, or up over 11%.

Finally, Child Health Plus is New York's name for the CHIP program (and in fact I believe CHIP was itself originally based on NY's Child Health Plus program anyway).

UPDATE: Here's the formal press release...good to have but not a whole lot of new tidbits:

Press Release: NY State of Health Announces Record Enrollment: 4.3 Million Covered
Feb 1, 2018

• Marketplace enrollment is 700,000 higher than the end of Open Enrollment 2017
• Nearly 1 million New Yorkers are enrolled in a Qualified Health Plan or Essential Plan

ALBANY, N.Y. (February 01, 2018) -- NY State of Health, the state’s official health plan Marketplace, today announced that more than 4.3 million New Yorkers have enrolled in comprehensive health coverage through NY State of Health, an increase of 700,000 people from 2017.  The 2018 Open Enrollment Period finished strong with nearly 1 million people combined enrolled in a Qualified Health Plan and the Essential Plan, an increase of 84,000 since the end of open enrollment in 2017.  New York’s decision to extend the 2018 Open Enrollment Period by six weeks from December 15, 2017 to January 31, 2018 was also validated; an additional 24,000 individuals gained Qualified Health Plan coverage during this period.

“Covering 4.3 million New Yorkers is truly a historic milestone,” said NY State of Health Executive Director, Donna Frescatore. “More consumers than ever before are using the Marketplace for their health plan needs, proving that demand for quality, affordable coverage is at an all-time high – demand that NY State of Health is able to meet.”

As of January 31, 2018:

• More than 1.36 million people enrolled in a non-Medicaid program through the Marketplace:
• 253,102 in a Qualified Health Plan – including 149,000 (59 percent) who enrolled with financial assistance and 104,000 (41 percent) who enrolled without financial assistance 
• 738,851 in the popular Essential Plan for lower income New Yorkers 
• 374,577 in Child Health Plus
• And, 2,965,863 people enrolled in Medicaid through the Marketplace.

NY State of Health had a lot to offer this Open Enrollment Period: affordable choices – in many cases lower costs than 2017 – and a broad choice of health plans.  The Marketplace worked to get its message out and counter consumer confusion about coverage and enrollment deadlines.  Throughout the open enrollment period, Marketplace representatives participated in nearly 470 events, sent more than 1.2 million personalized emails to consumers, with important reminders about the steps they needed to take to renew or enroll in coverage, and advertised across the state.  New Yorkers responded: during the 2018 Open Enrollment Period, website traffic and call center volume surged, with nearly 2 million website visitors and over 1.8 million calls to Customer Service, including over 42,000 calls on January 31st alone.

Additional demographic and health plan specific information for the 2018 Open Enrollment Period will be available in the coming weeks.