In 2015, Republican Matt Bevin campaigned for governor on two major healthcare-related platforms:
Eliminate the state's perfectly-functioning, award-winning, highly-praised and beloved ACA exchange, "kynect" for no particular reason other than spite.
Eliminate the state's ACA Medicaid expansion program, which as of this writing provides around 480,000 low-income Kentuckians with healthcare coverage.
For some inexplicable reason, voters in Kentucky elected him regardless. Once he got into office, he did indeed make good on the first promise, shutting down the state's perfectly good ACA exchange platform and shifting KY to the federal exchange at HealthCare.Gov.
When it came to eliminating Medicaid expansion, on the other hand, he found it to be a little bit tougher than expected; actually pulling the plug on nearly half a million people's healthcare coverage proved to be a tougher nut to crack than he thought.
About 35,000 Idaho residents have signed up for Medicaid under expanded coverage in the first few days it has been offered, state officials said Monday.
The Department of Health and Welfare said that's more than a third of the estimated 91,000 people who are eligible. The agency started taking applications Friday, and it is tracking numbers on its website.
That's the good news. Of course, Republican legislators couldn't leave well enough alone:
Voters authorized Medicaid expansion last year with an initiative that passed with 61% of the vote after years of inaction by state lawmakers. But lawmakers earlier this year added restrictions requiring five waivers from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
...Most recently, Idaho last month submitted a waiver requiring patients to get referrals from primary physicians before they can get family planning services such as birth control, abortions or pregnancy care.
The original purpose of this website was, of course, to do real-time (or close to real-time) tracking of how many people actually select Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) via the ACA exchanges.
Every year I start out with a "blank" with my projections for how I think the upcoming Open Enrollment Period (OEP) will play out. For 2020, however, I'm just overlaying 2019's enrollment patterns on the graph (for both the federal and state exchanges) to see how things play out year over year.
There's some important things to keep in mind for the 2020 OEP:
A few weeks ago, I said the following about Sen. Elizabeth Warren regarding healthcare policy:
I'm generally supporting Elizabeth Warren in the Democratic Primary (not a full endorsement, but I've been strongly leaning her way for awhile now)...
...but I'm also not happy with her seeming 180 degree shift on how to best achieve universal healthcare coverage from her brilliant CNN Town Hall response in March to her cut 'n dried "I'm with Bernie" stance since June.
HOWEVER, for the time being at least, that seems to be where she's decided to lay her marker, so it is what it is.
(Note: Since then, I've publicly stated that I'm now leaning more towards Sen. Kamala Harris who was always my strong #2 choice. This doesn't mean I no longer like Warren--the two have simply swapped places in my #1 and #2 column.)
I've made quite a bit of fuss about California expanding availability of ACA financial subsidies to those earning 400 - 600% of the Federal Poverty Line ($75K for a single person, $154K for a family of four). The subsidies aren't massive for most people, but for hundreds of thousands of Californians--especially older folks earning between 400 - 450% FPL--this is a huge savings. In addition, they're sweetening the subsidies somewhat for those already receiving ACA tax credits.
The only real concern I had about this is whether enough people in California know about it. Just like with reinstating the mandate penalty (which California has also done this year), expanding & enhancing ACA subsidies isn't gonna cause a spike in enrollment if no one knows they're available. A lot of people who might have checked into it in prior years isn't likely to bother taking another look if they don't know that the income cut-off threshold has gone up, and many others have never bothered trying in the first place because they "heard somewhere" that they won't qualify.
This press release came out last week but I covered all the other state-based exchange Open Enrollment press releases so I figured I should include this one as well:
Covered California for Small Business Announces Expanded Choices and an Average Rate Change of 4.1 Percent for 2020
Like Jack Twist in Brokeback Mountain, I can't seem to quit playing around with the jaw-dropping possibilities which could impact future Medical Loss Ratio rebate payments in response to the ghosts of Open Enrollment Periods past.
Big news: SCOTUS is taking up the ACA risk corridors case. GOP's decision to stymie that program arguably did the most damage to the ACA marketplaces. https://t.co/VeMRcd5MYn
Back in late June, right after the first Democratic Primary Candidate Presidential Debate, I posted an analysis & table to break out exactly where each of the then-20 (!) candidates stood when it comes to the Next Big Thing in U.S. healthcare policy. I posted a couple of updates as the summer and early fall progressed.
At the time, my main point was that regardless of their official campaign rhetoric, the truth was that nearly all of the candidates were open to multiple paths towards expanding healthcare coverage...both in terms of the number of people covered, the scope of that coverage and the cost of coverage to the enrollees, with a greater portion of the total cost being borne by the federal government.
Washington Healthplanfinder Ready for Start of 2020 Open Enrollment
More health plans, new health insurance carriers, and lower premiums available in most counties
Washington Health Benefit Exchange (Exchange) announced today the start of the 2020 open enrollment period that will feature more plan options and the potential for lower premiums for the majority of customers.
Now through December 15, Washingtonians seeking health insurance plans for themselves and their families can visit Washington Healthplanfinder to review and enroll in coverage. This year customers will find a total of 66 qualified health plans (QHP) from nine insurance providers – a 65 percent increase in QHPs from the 40 plans available last year. And, for the first time ever, a bronze plan offering will be available in every county in the state.
Need health insurance in 2020? Now’s the time to pick or renew your plan
HealthSource RI announces 2020 Open Enrollment period Nov. 1st – Dec 31st
EAST PROVIDENCE, RI (October 31, 2019) HealthSource RI, the state health insurance exchange, helps connect Rhode Islanders to a wide range of high quality, affordable health coverage options. Residents are encouraged to select and pay for a plan through HealthSource RI by December 23rd for coverage beginning January 1, 2020. The last possible day to enroll and pay for a plan is December 31st, but customers may experience a delay in receiving ID cards if they enroll after December 23rd.
“HealthSource RI helps keep health care costs low while ensuring that Rhode Islanders have access to high-quality care,” said Governor Raimondo. “I urge Rhode Islanders to take time to explore HealthSource RI’s many coverage options this open enrollment.”
