Hot off the presses via the New York Dept. of Financial Services:

MVP Health Plan, Inc.

Generally, once a year MVP files for a change to the current premium rates on file for their products based on a review of the adequacy of the rate level. Premiums need to be sufficient to cover all medical and pharmacy claims submitted from covered members, cover the administrative cost of operations, Federal and New York State taxes/assessments levied and New York State statutory reserve requirements.

MVP is proposing a premium rate adjustment effective January 1, 2026. Policyholders will be charged the proposed premium rates upon renewal in 2026 pending New York State’s Department of Financial Services review. There are 13,062 policyholders and 19,125 members currently enrolled in Individual MVP Health Plan, Inc. plans. The proposed premium rate adjustment represents an average increase of 8.00%. Premium changes will vary by plan design.

Premium rates are changing due to the following reasons:

The Musk/Trump Regime has published an update to the official Medicaid/CHIP enrollment data:

January 2025 Key Findings

Medicaid and CHIP Enrollment

• In January 2025, 78.8 million individuals were enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP.
  • 71.4 million individuals were enrolled in Medicaid, and 7.3 million individuals were enrolled in CHIP.
  • 41.4 million adults were enrolled in Medicaid, and there were 37.4 million Medicaid child and CHIP enrollees.

Medicaid and CHIP Applications Received

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services just published updated enrollment data for Medicare, adding February 2025 to the data archive.

So far, after a 2-month initial delay, the Musk/Trump Regime has been posting updated Medicare enrollment data roughly once per month. We'll see if that continues.

Whether the data posted since January 20, 2025 is accurate or not, I can't say for certain, but at least they're updating it...and so far, at least, I don't see anything in their monthly reports which is setting off any obvious red flags.

In any event, according to the latest report, as of February 2025:

via the Office of the Washington Insurance Commissioner:

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Fourteen health insurers have requested an average rate change of 21.2% for Washington state's 2026 Individual Health Insurance Market. Insurers base their requested rate changes on assumptions they make about the services their policyholders will use and the cost to deliver that care. The health plans and proposed rate changes are currently under review by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner.

Wellpoint Washington, Inc. is new to the market and plans to sell in Grays Harbor, King and Spokane counties. 

Over the past month or so, as Congressional Republicans have pulled out all the stops in their attempt to ram through their budget bill which would gut Medicaid and ACA exchange enrollment (along with SNAP and numerous other desperately-needed social aid programs), you may have noticed that they keep using an oddly specific talking point:

Mike Johnson: Medicaid Is Not for 29-Year-Old Males Sitting on Their Couches Playing Video Games

--CNN, February 27, 2025

Mike Johnson on Medicaid: "What we've talked about is returning work requirements ... you return the dignity of work to young men who need to be out working instead of playing video games all day. We have a lot of fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicaid."

Welp. House Republicans did indeed follow through with passing their horrific (and disgustingly-titled) "One Big Beautiful Bill" Act which will effectively repeal the bulk of the ACA without officially repealing it, and that's just for starters.

The final vote was 215 - 214, with every Republican except a handful voting for it (and the two who voted against it openly admitted to the NY Times that they would have voted for it if their votes had been needed), and every Democrat voting against it. There were 2 Republican "no" votes...but both of those were only because they wanted the final bill to be even more draconian.

The Congressional Budget Office projected the bill, if enacted, will result in at least 13.7 million more Americans losing healthcare coverage (and that was based on a prior version of the bill; the new version is even more extreme).

There's so many awful things included in the bill, many of which are of course healthcare-related, and it would take hundreds of blog entries to discuss them all...but I want to focus on one in particular.

I joined Jennifer Taub on her podcast to discuss the House GOP budget bill (aka the #MAGAMassacreBill) and the Trump Regime's all-out assault on the U.S. healthcare system.

You can watch it on YouTube.

The following letter was just sent to both Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries:

Dear Speaker Johnson and Leader Jeffries:

For over a decade, State-Based Marketplaces have provided private health coverage to tens of millions of Americans, ensuring their health, well-being, and economic security. The Americans who depend on the Marketplaces include working parents, small business owners, farmers, gig workers, early retirees, and lower and middle-class individuals of all ages, political views, and backgrounds who drive our local economies and make both our rural and urban communities thrive.

The legislation under consideration in the House will severely impact the ability of these millions of Americans to continue to access this coverage and the health and financial security they depend on today. This will make for a sicker, less financially secure American public and strain hospitals and health care providers by increasing uncompensated care.

via the Massachusetts Health Connector:

 Advocating for Massachusetts residents and maintaining access to affordable coverage for everyone, the Massachusetts Health Connector on Friday submitted a comment letter to a proposed federal rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The letter focuses on proposals in the federal rule that would impact eligibility and enrollment functions for the Health Connector as well as policies in the larger insurance market. Massachusetts leads the nation in coverage rate, with more than 98 percent of residents covered according to the U.S. Census, and provisions in the rule would make it more difficult for residents to get and maintain coverage, while making coverage more expensive.

Congress Urged to Renew Expiring Enhanced Premium Tax Credits and Prevent Unnecessary Increases in Health Care Costs for New Jersey Residents

• Over 450,000 Get Covered New Jersey enrollees would be impacted by loss of expanded financial help
• New Jerseyans could lose more than half a billion dollars in federal support and face higher health insurance costs

TRENTON — Warning about significant health insurance premium increases for over 450,000 New Jerseyans, New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance Commissioner Justin Zimmerman sent a letter to New Jersey’s Congressional delegation strongly urging them to extend the expiring federal enhanced premium tax credits that have enabled hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents to enroll in quality, affordable health insurance through Get Covered New Jersey, the State’s Official Health Insurance Marketplace.