BeWell NM, New Mexico's state-based ACA exchange, has launched a very handy new Enrollment Data portal which includes plenty of info for a data hound like myself to pore over. The initial 2024 Open Enrollment Period numbers are impressive...but also a bit misleading if you don't know how the exchange enters data.

First, the top line numbers (as of 12/05/23):

• Number of enrolled consumers: 48,968
• Consumers enrolled in Medical coverage: 48,327
• Consumers enrolled in Dental coverage: 11,821

While dental coverage is also important, standalone dental plans aren't considered Qualified Health Plans (QHPs); it's the "Medical Coverage" which is the key number here.

Also, the total number above may look confusing, but most of the Medical & Dental coverage enrollees overlap:

via Connect for Health Colorado:

Connect for Health Colorado continues to set new enrollment records.

DENVER— Today is Get Covered Colorado Day. This day of action was created to encourage as many Coloradans as possible to enroll in 2024 health coverage during the annual Open Enrollment Period. Connect for Health Colorado, the state’s official health insurance marketplace, reports that in the first five weeks of Open Enrollment, 184,240 residents have enrolled in a health insurance plan. This is 29 percent ahead of the same day last year.

 Earlier today I posted the latest official above-the-fold numbers for the 2024 ACA Open Enrollment Period as reported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS):

...The graph below shows how these numbers have increased since the same time period last year. I've had to adjust slightly for the fact that there's one fewer day included for both the federal exchange (32 days vs. 33) and the state exchanges (25 days vs. 26).

I've also had to adjust for the fact that Virginia moved from the federal exchange to its own state-based exchange this year, which is further complicated by CMS reporting 5 weeks for the federal exchange but only 4 weeks for state-based exchange. Otherwise, the subtotals are accurate, while the new/returning breakout for 2023 are estimates,but should still be pretty close:

Via the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS):

More than 7 Million Selected Affordable Health Coverage in ACA Marketplace Since Start of Open Enrollment Period

• Enrollment increases continue as the deadline for January coverage fast approaches

Nearly 7.3 million people have selected an Affordable Care Act (ACA) Health Insurance Marketplace plan since the 2024 Marketplace Open Enrollment Period (OEP) opened on November 1. This represents activity through December 2 (Week 5) for the 32 states using HealthCare.gov and through November 25 (Week 4) for the 18 states and the District of Columbia with State-based Marketplaces (SBMs). Total plan selections include more than 1.6 million people (23% of total) who are new to the Marketplaces for 2024, and 5.7 million people (77% of total) who have active 2023 coverage and returned to their respective Marketplaces to renew their coverage or select a new plan for 2024.

via Pennie, Pennsylvania's state-based ACA exchange:

Action required by December 15th for Pennsylvanians seeking health coverage. To get the lowest costs on high-quality coverage, visit Pennie, PA’s health insurance marketplace.

Watch press conference, including customer testimonials here.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – December 5, 2023 – Today, Pennsylvania leadership held a virtual press conference to highlight the upcoming deadline of December 15th to enroll in health coverage for 2024 through Pennie.

Pennie is Pennsylvania’s official health insurance marketplace (pennie.com) and the only place where Pennsylvanians can get financial savings to reduce the cost of coverage and care. Currently, 9 in 10 enrollees qualify and save over $500 a month on average.

Right now, during the annual Open Enrollment period, it is the only time of year to apply, shop and enroll in coverage from the top insurance companies with financial savings.

Upcoming Deadline

Since Donald Trump was defeated in the 2020 Presidential election, most people seemed to be under the impression that the Republican Party's decade-long obsession with tearing down President Obama's signature legislative accomplishment, the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act, was finally over.

Healthcare journalist extraordinaire Jonathan Cohn even pulled the trigger on publishing his definitive history of the ACA, The Ten Year War...although honestly, there was still one remaining major legal loose end to tie up which wouldn't happen until about eight months later.

 As regular readers know, every year I pore over hundreds of annual health insurance policy rate filings from carriers participating in the individual and small group markets, attempting to run weighted average rate changes on a state-by-state level. I then compile all 50 states (+DC) into a national weighted average rate change table.

I generally do this twice for every state: First, over the spring and summer, I crunch the numbers for the carriers preliminary rate change requests. These are submitted to the state regulatory authorities (or in a few cases, federal regulators), who run their own actuarial analysis and then either approve the requests as is, lower the requested rates or (in a few cases) even raise rates more than requested, since part of the regulators job is to ensure that the insurance carriers have enough cash flow to actually pay their claims over the upcoming year.

Every month for years now, the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) has published a monthly press release with a breakout of total Medicare, Medicaid & CHIP enrollment; the most recent one was posted in late February, and ran through November 2022.

Since December 2022, however, they haven't sent out the normal press release; instead, they included a brief note leading to a Medicaid/CHIP data slideshow , along with another note leading to their new Medicare Monthly Enrollment database.

In any event, according to the spreadsheet I exported, as of August 2023:

via the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS):

• In August 2023, 89,994,594 individuals were enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP.
  • 83,029,628 individuals were enrolled in Medicaid in August 2023, a decrease of 1,488,269 individuals (1.8%) from July 2023.
  • 6,964,966 individuals were enrolled in CHIP in August 2023, a decrease of 30,312 individuals (0.4%) from July 2023.
• As of August 2023, enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP has decreased by 3,862,970 individuals since March 2023, the final month of the Medicaid continuous enrollment condition under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023.
  • Medicaid enrollment has decreased by 3,699,342 individuals (4.3%).
  • CHIP enrollment has decreased by 163,628 individuals (2.3%).
• Between February 2020 and March 2023, enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP increased by 22,982,495 individuals (32.4%) to 93,857,564.
  • Medicaid enrollment increased by 22,649,177 individuals (35.3%).
  • CHIP enrollment increased by 333,318 individuals (4.9%)

Back in March, after years of failed and stalled attempts to get it passed, the North Carolina legislature finally pushed ACA Medicaid expansion over the line to be signed into law by Democratic Governor Roy Cooper.

Today, it became a reality:

Nearly 600,000 North Carolinians Now Have Access to Medicaid Expansion Coverage