SEE IMPORTANT UPDATES AT BOTTOM.

Yesterday I crunched the numbers for two different reports from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services.

The first was the standard monthly Medicaid/CHIP enrollment report for June 2023:

In June 2023, 92,614,205 individuals were enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP.

• 85,614,581 individuals were enrolled in Medicaid in June 2023, a decrease of 1,169,095 individuals (1.3%) from May 2023.
• 6,999,624 individuals were enrolled in CHIP in June 2023, a decrease of 32,449 individuals (0.5%) from May 2023.

As of June 2023, enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP has decreased by 1,304,004 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.

via the Washington HealthPlan Finder:

Today, the Washington Health Benefit Exchange (Exchange) released a Data Snapshot Report, which shows the availability of affordable, Cascade Care plans are proving critical to keeping people covered and advancing equity during the Medicaid unwind.

Now that COVID-era protections have expired, Washington, like all states, has resumed regular annual eligibility checks for people covered by our state Medicaid program, Washington Apple Health. For the past year, the Exchange has joined partners across our state, led by the Washington Health Care Authority (HCA), to ensure Apple Health customers watch out for and respond to renewal notices.

Originally published 8/07/23

The good news is that RateReview.HealthCare.Gov has posted the preliminary 2024 rate filing summaries for every state, making it much easier to pin down which carriers are actually participating in the individual & small group markets next year, as well as what the carriers average requested rate changes are in states which don't publish that data publicly (or which make it difficult to track down if they do).

The bad news is that in many of those states, acquiring the actual enrollment data is even more difficult, as their rate filings tend to be heavily redacted. Alabama falls into this category.

via NY State of Health:

• Consumers Can Preview 2024 Plan Options Now, Enroll Starting November 16, 2023

• Marketplace Helps New Yorkers Stay Covered Throughout Pivotal Renewal Process of State Public Health Programs

• State’s Uninsured Rate Drops to Record Low of Less than 5 Percent

• Enhanced Federal Financial Assistance Will Remain Available for 2024 Health Coverage

ALBANY, N.Y. (October 4, 2023) – NY State of Health, the state’s official health plan Marketplace, today announced the health and dental insurance plans offered through the Marketplace for the 2024 coverage year.

Via MNsure:

Enrolling Through MNsure Offers Great Savings on 2024 Health Insurance Plans

ST. PAUL, MN — Starting November 1, Minnesotans who need health insurance can sign up for 2024 coverage through MNsure, Minnesota’s official health insurance marketplace, where they can easily find, choose and purchase health insurance. MNsure’s open enrollment period begins November 1, 2023, and will run through January 15, 2024. Open enrollment is the annual opportunity to enroll in health coverage, change plans, and renew coverage.

MNsure estimates that Minnesotans who are eligible for tax credits will save $6,750 in 2024 and spend 5% less on private health plan premiums than they did this year, on average.

These significant savings are thanks to advanced premium tax credits, which act like an instant discount to lower the cost of monthly premiums – but are only available when you enroll in health insurance through MNsure. For example:

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 June 2023:

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

In June 2023, 92,614,205 individuals were enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP.

• 85,614,581 individuals were enrolled in Medicaid in June 2023, a decrease of 1,169,095 individuals (1.3%) from May 2023.

• 6,999,624 individuals were enrolled in CHIP in June 2023, a decrease of 32,449 individuals (0.5%) from May 2023.

• As of June 2023, enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP has decreased by 1,304,004 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 1,175,034 individuals (1.4%).
  • CHIP enrollment has decreased by 128,970 individuals (1.8%).

• Between February 2020 and March 2023, enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP increased by 23,043,140 individuals (32.5%) to 93,918,209
  • Medicaid enrollment increased by 22,709,822 individuals (35.4%).
  • CHIP enrollment increased by 333,318 individuals (4.9%).

Last month, Amy Lotven of Inside Health Policy found an excellent scoop from a new CMS report hiding in plain sight:

New CMS data, quietly released in late August, show about 178,000 consumers chose a qualified health plan (QHP) through a state or federal exchanges after losing Medicaid and CHIP coverage in the first two months of the Medicaid unwinding. Those sign-ups through the end of May are more than three times the 54,000 enrollments that CMS reported in July, which reflected only the April numbers.

Originally posted 8/18/23

Utah's preliminary 2024 individual and small group market rate filings are listed below. They launched a handy new website specifically dedicated to insurance filings, which is nice to see.

Unless there's a change in the final/approved rates, unsubsidized individual market plan premiums are increasing by around 11.4% in 2023, while small group plans will go up 10.5% on average (caveat: I had to estimate the actual enrollment numbers for two of the small group carriers, so the weighted average may be slightly off). Both market hikes are significantly higher rate increases than they were last year.

I should note that both Aetna and Imperial Health appear to be newly entering the Utah individual market next year.

UPDATE 10/04/23: The Utah Insurance Dept. has published approved rates for all individual & small group market carriers with one exception (Molina is still listed as "submitted," but they only have 0.6% of the total market anyway so any dramatic change to their final rates would be a rounding error at most statewide).

Overall most of the filings were accepted as is, although a couple saw significant changes: BridgeSpan had their 6.7% increase nearly doubled to 12.1%, while Regence BCBS was shaved down slightly, from 9.2% to 8.8%.

Shout-out to Jody Young for bringing this Florida Politics article by Christine Sexton my way this evening:

A ‘Nixon goes to China’ moment? Conservative Republican pushes for state Medicaid expansion.

• 'These are not handouts. We’re not throwing money down the drain. We are helping our working class Americans get ahead.'

A conservative Florida Republican doctor who has been an ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis and his handling of COVID-19 says it’s time for the state to expand Medicaid despite the long-running opposition of GOP legislators.

...[Rep. Joel] Rudman said the loss of Medicaid coverage for hundreds of thousands of Floridians this year illustrates the need for change. A spreadsheet compiled by House Democrats shows of the 524,076 Floridians who have lost coverage in the last four months, nearly 50% are under the age of 21.