Last year I briefly attempted to keep track off the dozens of various state-based "ACA 2.0" protection/improvement bills flying around various state legislatures. I eventually abandoned this project since it became too difficult to keep up with, but I'm still reporting case studies as they come to my attention...and Louise Norris has just alerted me to some pretty big changes going into effect in Colorado this April.
First up: Short-term plans are being heavily neutered. In addition to being limited to 6 months per year (which is still longer than the Obama Administration's 3-month cut-off)...
Short-term plans will have to charge older adults no more than three times as much as they charge younger adults. Short-term plans are generally not available after a person is 64, but a quick check of plans currently available in Colorado show that some insurers are charging a 64-year-old up to seven times as much as a 21-year-old. That will have to stop as of April.
Last April, Maryland was one of several states which took action to counteract portions of the Trump Administration's attempts to sabotage the Affordable Care Act. In particular, Maryland (which has a Democratically-controlled state legislature but a moderate (by today's standards) Republican Governor) passed and signed into two important bills:
The combined effect of these changes was dramatic: Maryland's individual market insurance carriers, which had been planning on jacking up their average premiums by a whopping 30%, instead ended up lowering their 2019 premiums by over 13%. This is a net swing of around $3,200 per enrollee for the year (around $266 per month). In other words, instead of seeing unsubsidized 2019 premiums go up by $2,200 apiece, they dropped around $1,000.
Believe it or not, the 2019 ACA Open Enrollment Period officially ended last night...but only in 43 states. In the remaining seven (+DC), Open Enrollment hasn't ended yet. 2019 ACA Open Enrollment is still ongoing for over 23 million people!
In the District of Columbia (population 694,000) and New York (population 19.85 million), open enrollment runs through Jan. 31st for coverage starting March 1st.
This is a very quick post as I’m in the middle of the Families USA healthcare conference, but it’s a significant one: The Massachusetts Health Connector, which wrapped up their 2019 ACA Open Enrollment Period last night, just reported the following:
Here is an update as of today, with Open Enrollment having ended last night.
Note: These numbers below should be considered something of a high-water mark. There will be fluctuations as plan-selecteds lose their window, members terminate, but also some applicants end up enrolling in March coverage.
Total enrollments (Including all January, February and March enrollments to date): 292,006
Plan selected/unenrolled: 8,079
2019enrollmentasdefinedbyCMS: 300,085
Our new enrollment (people who did not have Health Connector coverage as of Nov. 1) is 60,361. This is a 23 percent increase from last year’s 49,034 at the same point in time.
Our retention rate is currently 89.7 percent, up about 2.6 percent from last year.
Working together, we are stronger. That’s why Families USA brings together community leaders from across the nation each year to improve the lives of America’s families. In 2019 we will meet for the 24th annual Health Action Conference on January 24-26, in Washington, D.C. at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill.
No other national grassroots health care conference brings together the swath of consumer activists and policymakers to inform, engage and inspire America’s health care agenda. We will be rolling up our sleeves to greet a new Congress and state legislatures in 2019.
DC Health Link Pulling Out All the Stops for African-American “Week of Action”
Friday, January 18, 2019
Marching in MLK, Jr. Day Parade, barber shop outreach, and visiting churches highlight opportunities to boost African-American health insurance enrollment
WHAT/WHO:
With less than two weeks left to the January 31 deadline to sign up for 2019 coverage, DC Health Link is ramping up outreach efforts to the African-American community, where the uninsured rate remains high. DC Health Link, in partnership with various community organizations, is encouraging uninsured African-Americans to enroll in quality, affordable health insurance during DC Health Link’s “African-American Week of Action.”
Press Release: NY State of Health Hosts Online Informational Webinars in Spanish and Mandarin Tomorrow
Enrollment Remains Strong During Final Weeks of Open Enrollment
Enroll Today! 2019 Open Enrollment Ends January 31, 2019
Customer Service Center Hours Extended before Deadline
ALBANY, N.Y. (January 22, 2019) - NY State of Health, the state’s official health plan Marketplace, today reminded New Yorkers that now is the time to enroll in a Qualified Health Plan (QHP) for 2019 coverage. NY State of Health will hold webinars in Spanish and Mandarin tomorrow night, January 23, 2019. Open Enrollment for 2019 ends January 31. Consumers across the state have a choice of many quality health plans, and financial assistance is available to most individuals who buy coverage through NY State of Health.
A couple of weeks ago, I noted that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, in an interview airing on MSNBC, stated that two of the major pieces of healthcare legislation she intends on pushing through this session are raising the ACA's tax credit eligibility threshold and "replacing" the now-repealed ACA individual mandate (i was never sure whether "replacing" meant reinstating it or actually replacing it with some other enrollment incentive).
I realize that the odds of any useful healthcare legislation managing to pass the Senate and become law under the Trump Administration is pretty slim, but hey, it's still good news, right!
UPDATE 4/16/19: Please note that this overview refers to the version of Medicare for America introduced in December 2018. There's a revised version of the bill being re-introduced in the near future which is expected to include several important changes. The only two which have been made public so far are: 1) Deductibles are expected to be eliminated altogether; and 2) the upper-end percent-of-income maximum premium is supposed to drop from 9.69% to an even 9.0%.
There's a half-dozen or more different healthcare policy overhaul bills which are being batted around by Congressional Democrats these days, ranging from the fairly modest ("lower the Medicare buy-in to age 50!") up through the full-blown, "pure" Single Payer bill being pushed by Bernie Sanders & other "Medicare for All" activists.
What's most remarkable about the current total is that the 2019 Open Enrollment Period hasn't ended yet in Massachusetts. Residents still have until midnight Wednesday, January 23rd to enroll.
Oh, yeah...and don't forget: Unlike most states, Massachusetts still has a healthcare coverage mandate law which imposes a financial penalty on MA residents who don't have adequate healthcare coverage (unless they qualify for a hardship or other special exemption):
