Using my new projection model, which accurately called both the announcement (a week or more earlier) of both the "close to 4 million" announcement on 2/20 and 4 million even on 2/25, I'm confident enough to make my official call for the actual February HHS Enrollment Report, which probably will be released on or around March 13, give or take:

  • 902,000 Total Exchange-Based Private QHP Enrollments between 2/02/14 - 3/01/14
  • 4,202,000 Total Exchange-Based Private QHP Enrollments between 10/1/13 - 3/01/14

You'll notice that I'm being very careful about how I word this, for several reasons.

Yeesh! Another crazy day...a third update today, this time for Maryland. The numbers aren't anything exciting (QHPs up about 2,400, Medicaid up a more impressive 10.7K), but every bit helps. The more noteworthy bit of news, however, is shown below--Maryland is finally jumping on the "How many are PAID???" bandwagon and joining 6 other states in breaking out their payment numbers.

While the percentage doesn't look good on the surface (only 54% of the total), the press release is careful to make the same point that I've been making for weeks now: If a big chunk of the unpaid enrollments aren't even due yet, it's rather silly to wring your hands about people not having paid their premiums yet.

No sooner had the January CMS report come out then wham, a new update from Kentucky...unfortunately it's actually a drop in QHP enrollments, since the prior 59K estimate was based on a very general statement by KY Gov. Beshear. As a result, QHPs drop about 5K (from 59K to 54,369) while Medicaid/CHIP enrollments go way up (from 185K to 210,545).

Under @kynectky so far, 210,545 have qualified for Medicaid coverage and 54,369 have purchased private insurance. #ACA

— Joe Sonka (@joesonka) February 28, 2014

OK, to repeat: The January CMS Medicaid/CHIP Report has finally been released:

According to a new CMS report released today, between October and January, more than 8.9 million individuals were determined eligible for Medicaid or CHIP through state agencies and through state-based Marketplaces. More than 2 million people were informed in January that they are eligible for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP); more of those individuals are in states that have chosen to expand Medicaid coverage to more of their residents.

Details to follow, keep watching this space... (or "developing" as some would put it...)

According to a new CMS report released today, between October and January, more than 8.9 million individuals were determined eligible for Medicaid or CHIP through state agencies and through state-based Marketplaces. More than 2 million people were informed in January that they are eligible for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP); more of those individuals are in states that have chosen to expand Medicaid coverage to more of their residents.

Vermont continues to have impressive enrollment numbers (relative to their population size) despite their ongoing technical problems, partly due to an aggressive SHOP/Small Business enrollment program. Private QHPs have somehow more than doubled from 13,514 paid / 3,392 unpaid as of 2/10 up to 28,486 paid / 4,805 unpaid as of February 25th.

Meanwhile, the SHOP enrollment numbers are also impressive, jumping from 29,200 at the beginning of the year up to 40,000 as of 2/25.

In addition, the article claims that the 28.4K figure only represents policies, not people, which suggests that the actual number of individuals could be as many as 51,200, but I'm already finding it difficult to believe that they've managed to go from 13.5K to 28.4K in just 2 weeks in the first place, so I'm holding off on that factor for now.

The latest figures from the Department of Vermont Health Access, presented to lawmakers Wednesday, show 33,291 individuals have selected a plan and 28,486 are fully enrolled...

After being cited by both the Washington Post as well as PolitiFact as one of only two sources for a reasonably accurate tally of ACA-enabled Medicaid/CHIP expansion (Avalere Health is the other one, although their analysis only included data through the end of December), I decided to go back and review my methodology. I've pored over both the HHS and CMS reports again, as well as reviewing the "Targeted Enrollment Strategy" and other special "bulk transfer" cases.

Looks like the previous update claiming over 5K in Hawaii was mistaken. Not that it makes much difference, but I have to lower HI's tally by 533:

Total for the period of Feb. 16, 2014 through Feb. 22, 2014:

4,467 Enrollments in the Individual Marketplace

Nevada's latest update as of 2/22: Paid QHPs have shot up 2,095 from 17,047 to 19,142; unpaid QHPs are down 702 to 7,893 from 8,595, which means that Nevada, like Washington yesterday, is starting to convert unpaid enrollments to paid more quickly. Total enrollments are therefore up just 1,393.

Update as of 2/22: 27,035 consumers have confirmed QHP selections through Nevada Health Link, 19,142 have paid.

— Nevada Health Link (@NVHealthLink) February 26, 2014

These new enrollees are not all from February; they actually have been scattered throughout the entire enrollment period to date, some going as far back as October or November...but they're not actually being added until this week. This brings the total number of new Medicaid enrollments for Ohio to 129,000:

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio officials are preparing to receive more than 106,000 applications for Medicaid-eligible residents who sought health coverage through the federal insurance marketplace.

The first batch of cases, which had been in limbo for months, could be transferred as soon as Wednesday, said Greg Moody, director of the Governor's Office of Health Transformation.

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