Last week, the Rhode Island exchange reported a total of 34,627 QHP selections--paid and unpaid, as they're always careful to note.

The breakdown at the time was:

• 30,165 renewed/re-enrolled from 2015
• 4,462 newly-added for 2016

They also noted that:

• 27,124 of the 34,627 individuals are enrolled in 2016 coverage through HSRI, and have paid their first month’s premium.

Given that the thru-date was after New Year's, it was inevitable that another chunk of those who selected QHPs would be dropped soon...and sure enough, HealthSourceRI has done so in this week's report:

INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY ENROLLMENT • As of January 9, 2016:

On Sunday, I noted that the "IRS Form 8962" chickens, which I've been wringing my hands about since last October, had finally come home to roost:

About 1.4 million households that got financial help for health insurance under President Barack Obama's law failed to properly account for it on their tax returns last year, putting their subsidies at risk if they want to keep coverage.

...IRS said the more than 1.4 million households that have failed to properly account for their 2014 tax credits include:

I wrote the following back in early December:

I guess the question here is just how much verification the HHS Dept. and/or the assorted state-based exchanges are doing of these claims. In cases like getting married/divorced, giving birth, becoming a citizen or getting out of jail, I would imagine the verification should be pretty easy. However, the "Tax Penalty Ignorance" exception was pretty much based on an honors system, and I don't know how easy/difficult it is for the feds to "verify" that your income has increased/decreased substantially...at least, not until you file your taxes the following year, which could be up to a year after the claim is made.

...So, what's the solution to this, assuming the problem is widespread? Well, I can think of some obvious tweaks to the rules, almost all of which involve simply reducing grace periods:

OK, there's a lot of confusion (including some by myself) about the whole "saving money" issue with regard to Matt Bevin shutting down Kentucky's kynect exchange. I've discussed it with Louise Norris, and I think the situation is as follows:

• Currently, kynect's $28 million annual budget is covered by a 1% fee charged to all premiums for everyone on individual policies (on or off exchange), small group policies and large group policies.

• Kentucky has roughly 4.4 million people. Of these, around 9% are still uninsured, 27% are on Medicaid (much of this thanks to ACA expansion!) and at least 18% are on Medicare (800K as of 2012, more today). That means that no more than 46% of the state's population is currently paying this 1% fee; it's likely around 40% doing so.

• In other words, right now, as far as I can tell, around 1.8 million Kentuckians are paying roughly $16 per year to pay for Kynect.

Not that it'll save the state any money or anything (and in fact could end up costing them more, both in terms of the cost of winding down the organization/transitioning to the federal exchange as well as the higher fees which will apparently be required), but doing something sensible doesn't seem to be part of Matt Bevin's DNA:

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Following through on a campaign pledge, Gov. Matt Bevin has notified federal authorities he plans to dismantle kynect, Kentucky's health insurance exchange created as part of the Affordable Care Act.

In a Dec. 30 letter to Sylvia Burwell, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Bevin said he plans to wind down the state health exchange and transition Kentuckians to the federal site, healthcare.gov, to shop for insurance under the law also known as Obamacare.

Here's the difference that a state election can make:

Louisiana Gov.-elect John Bel Edwards has set an ambitious timeline for a Medicaid expansion, saying he wants to have government-funded health insurance cards in thousands more people's hands by July 1.

...that's assuming the Republican-led Legislature doesn't try to throw up any roadblocks seeking to slow down an expansion effort.

Edwards, a Democrat who takes office Monday, said he would issue an executive order "within 24 hours from being sworn in" that starts the work required to expand Medicaid as allowed under the federal healthcare law. Health coverage for the people who would be eligible for the insurance under the expansion, he said, would begin July 1.

...The incoming health secretary estimated that about 300,000 people, mainly the working poor, would be enrolled for Medicaid under an expansion.

Just a quick reminder: This Friday, January 15th, is the deadline for people to sign up for healthcare coverage that starts on February 1st in most states:

• The deadline for February coverage is Friday, January 15th in 46 states & DC.
• The deadline for February coverage is Saturday, January 23rd in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Washington State.

• The FINAL deadline, for coverage starting in March in all states (& DC) is Sunday, January 31st.

Exceptions: Aside from the normal "off-season" Special Enrollment Period (SEP) for getting married, giving birth, etc., it's important to note that anyone who lost their coverage due to one of the dozen Co-Ops which shut down in December still has until March 1st to enroll (h/t to Amy Lotven for the reminder):

Everyone is posting various tributes to the late, great David Bowie today. Most will likely relate to Major Tom, Ziggy Stardust or Under Pressure.

For my part, I'm posting something a little different. Instead of anything from his music career, here's the clip of Bowie's brief but oddly appropriately-cast role as Pontius Pilate opposite Willem DaFoe in Martin Scorcese's "The Last Temptation of Christ".

Hey, remember back in October when I was deeply concerned about the 1.5 million taxpayers receiving APTC (Advance Premium Tax Credits) via ACA exchange policies last year who were at risk of losing those tax credits this year because they either didn't know they had to file a tax return, knew but didn't get around to doing so, or filed their taxes but forgot to fill out/include Form 8962?

Remember how I later noted that my own wife and I were among those who fell into the second category? (Fortunately, we did file an amended return to take care of it.)

Some readers may wonder why I, a lifelong Michigan resident who authors a website devoted to healthcare issues, haven't posted anything about my home state's latest shame, the Flint Water Poisoning scandal.

The answer is pretty simple: What the hell else is there for me to add? Our governor, Rick Snyder, along with a bunch of people at the top levels of his administration, who he appointed, appear to be guilty of, at best, criminal negligence (and at worst, potential negligent manslaughter) of the 100,000 citizens of Flint, Michigan...all in order to "save money". In fact, they were so intent on "saving money" that they didn't even bother to spend the $100 per day that it apparently would have cost to prevent hundreds or potentially thousands of children from suffering permanent physiological and mental damage.