Well, the lines didn't flip after all in January--the reddest quintile jumped up faster than the bluest quintile after all--two months earlier than I expected:
Bluest Quintile: 4.70 per 100K residents
Reddest Quintile: 5.33 per 100K residents (13% higher)
The January gap wasn't that significant by itself...except that it had looked like the rate in the reddest quintile might be lower last month.
Sure enough, the COVID death rate gap between the reddest and bluest fifths of the country widened out more in February, with the rate in the reddest quintile running 63% higher than the bluest quintile (4.22/100K vs. 2.39/100K). The rate actually dropped from January to February in every quintile, but it dropped considerably more in the bluest fifth (to the lowest rate since April 2022) than the reddest.
via the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), by email:
Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the latest enrollment figures for Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). These programs serve as key connectors to care for more millions of Americans.
Medicare
As of November 2022, 65,372,781 people are enrolled in Medicare. This is an increase of 136,217 since the last report.
35,114,923 are enrolled in Original Medicare.
30,257,858 are enrolled in Medicare Advantage or other health plans. This includes enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans with and without prescription drug coverage.
Based on current COVID-19 trends, the Department of Health and Human Services is planning for the federal Public Health Emergency for COVID-19 (PHE), declared under Section 319 of the Public Health Service Act, to expire at the end of the day on May 11, 2023. Thanks to the Administration’s whole-of-government approach to combatting the virus, we are in a better place in our response than we were three years ago, and we can transition away from an emergency phase.
I'd never heard of Illinois state Senator Laura Fine before now. I know absolutely nothing else about her besides her being a Democrat who represents IL Senate District 9.
As I noted a few weeks back, the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act now directly provides healthcare coverage for a stunning 40 million Americans:
...it's very likely that another 50,000 - 100,000 people will be added to the final QHP tally when the dust settles tomorrow (Tuesday, January 31st) evening. Even assuming the same 94% effectuation rate, that will still bring the effectuated QHP total to roughly 15.4 million.
Add to this the 1,217,517 confirmed Basic Health Plan (BHP) enrollees in New York and Minnesota and the subtotal comes to around 16.62 million QHPs + BHPs combined.
Next, we need to add Medicaid Expansion enrollees.
...the MBES reports only run through March 2022, at which point the national ACA expansion total stood at 22,275,433.
We're up to 38.9 million Americans with ACA coverage already, and we're still missing a lot of Medicaid expansion enrollees.
Updated 8/17/23: D'oh! I completely forgot about this development when I started running my state-by-state rate filing analyses this summer. No wonder Humana has disappeared from over a dozen states for 2024!
Update 3/15/23: At the request of Humana's Sales Integrity Dept., I've removed their logo from this blog entry.
Before I start, let me say that I've never been a fan of Medicare Advantage, at least as its currently structured, for a number of reasons. I am not advocating for the Medicare Advantage system--again, as currently structured--to be expanded.
ICYMI: Governor Murphy and Commissioner Caride Announce Record-Breaking 341K People Signed Up for Health Insurance During Open Enrollment Period
Nearly 40% Increase in Sign-Ups Since the Murphy Administration Assumed Operation of the Health Insurance Exchange
Residents with a Qualifying Life Event or Who Meet Certain Income Levels Still Have Options to Get Covered
TRENTON – Governor Phil Murphy and Department of Banking and Insurance Commissioner Marlene Caride today announced that more than 341,000 New Jerseyans signed up for health coverage through Get Covered New Jersey during the Affordable Care Act Open Enrollment Period – a record high in New Jersey.
Over on Twitter, political commentator Krystal Ball made an interesting claim:
A provision in Obamacare allows residents in areas deemed a public health disaster to be covered by Medicare for life. At the very least, East Palestine residents deserve this universal coverage after being exposed to a known carcinogen. https://t.co/ooPYmJ4Y8b
Dear Governor Whitmer, House Speaker Tate, Senate Majority Leader Brinks, House Health Policy Committee Chair Rogers & Senate Health Policy Chair Hertel:
Five years ago, ahead of the 2018 midterm election, I wrote an open letter to all Michigan Democratic legislative candidates with a healthcare policy wish list. It included 26 ways to Protect, Repair & Strengthen the #ACA at the state level, several of which overlapped with the Democratic caucus's "Michigan Health Care Bill of Rights."
Unfortunately, while Democrats made large gains in Michigan in 2018, we didn't quite flip control of either the state House or Senate; it would take another four years to pull that off. Fortunately, that did happen last November, giving Democrats a trifecta in the House, Senate and Governor's office at the same time for the first time in decades, so it's time for me to compile an updated version of my Michigan healthcare policy wish list.
