Survey Results Come as Wallet Hub has Ranked the Ocean State as #1 in the Nation for the Best Health Care
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I.– A preliminary analysis of the latest Rhode Island Health Insurance Survey (HIS) shows that Rhode Island has reached its lowest uninsured rate ever recorded. For the first time, just 2.9% of Rhode Islanders are uninsured, a reduction from the 4.0% the last time this survey was conducted in 2020. According to federally collected data through 2020, only Massachusetts and Vermont have ever recorded a state uninsured rate lower than 3.0%. This news comes as WalletHub has ranked Rhode Island as the best state in the country for health care.
The weighted average rate for Covered California’s dental coverage in 2023 will decrease by 1.7 percent, marking the second consecutive year that premiums have gone down for consumers.
More than 294,000 Covered California enrollees have supplemented their health insurance by purchasing optional adult dental coverage, an increase of 28 percent over the previous year.
Eligible consumers can add dental coverage to their plan when they sign up for health insurance during Covered California’s current special-enrollment period, or during open enrollment, which will start this fall.
Open Enrollment Period at Get Covered New Jersey Begins November 1, 2022
Historic Levels of Financial Help Remain Available for the Upcoming Year, Following Federal Inflation Reduction Act Signing
TRENTON — The New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance today announced it is accepting applications for community organizations to serve as Navigators to assist residents with health insurance enrollment for the upcoming Open Enrollment Period and during 2023. The department is making available a total of $5 million in grant funding for Navigators in an effort to ensure enrollment assistance is available in the community for residents seeking coverage through Get Covered New Jersey, the state’s official health insurance marketplace, during the Open Enrollment Period that starts November 1, 2022 and throughout the year.
Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the country has made amazing progress toward reducing the number of uninsured people, aided most recently by the Inflation Reduction Act’s continuation of enhanced premium subsidies. Census data show that 9.2% of U.S. residents were uninsured in 2019, compared to 15.5% in 2010 when the ACA passed. However, 30 million people still lack coverage.
The reasons for the high number of uninsured individuals include the Medicaid Gap, the family glitch and other barriers that prevent eligible individuals from signing up for coverage.Yet policy debates often exclude a population that is systematically and often statutorily excluded from coverage: immigrants.
Historic investment of nearly $100 million builds on the Administration’s quadrupling of Navigators last year to help connect people to coverage
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is investing $98.9 million in grant funding to 59 returning Navigator organizations for the 2023 Open Enrollment Period to help consumers navigate enrollment through the Marketplace, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and make health coverage more equitable and accessible to everyone.
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 May 2022, 64,553,288 people are enrolled in Medicare. This is an increase of 103,837 since the last report.
34,893,853 are enrolled in Original Medicare.
29,659,435 enrolled in Medicare Advantage or other health plans. This includes enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans with and without prescription drug coverage.
50,086,253 are enrolled in Medicare Part D. This includes enrollment in stand-alone prescription drug plans as well as Medicare Advantage plans that offer prescription drug coverage.
About 12 million individuals are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, so are counted in the enrollment figures for both programs.
ALBANY, N.Y. (August 17, 2022) – “I applaud President Biden’s signing of the Inflation Reduction Act, which extends enhanced financial assistance for health insurance under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The increased access and affordability of health insurance made possible by ARPA’s enhanced financial assistance has allowed NY State of Health to reach momentous enrollment milestones, serving as a critical safety net for individuals and families who lost their jobs and/or income, and providing health insurance to nearly 6.6 million individuals, or one in three New Yorkers, by the end of May 2022.
Extension of the ARPA subsidies as part of the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, allows the Marketplace to continue assuring access to low cost, comprehensive coverage, and supports our commitment to give all New Yorkers the opportunity to shop for the best health plan for themselves and their families. Thanks to the ARPA extension, New Yorkers can get help paying for the coverage they need now, to protect their health for the future.”
Washington Health Benefit Exchange interim CEO Jim Crawford issued the following statement regarding today’s signing of the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes a three-year extension of the enhanced federal premium subsidies currently available to Washingtonians who purchase their health coverage on Washington Healthplanfinder, the state’s online health insurance marketplace. These additional subsidies were first adopted under the American Rescue Plan Act (APRA) of 2021.
“We are incredibly pleased that Washington Healthplanfinder customers will continue to benefit from enhanced federal subsidies through the end of 2025. These subsidies have been a major driver in reducing premium payments for those purchasing health insurance and provide needed relief to those buying and renewing coverage in November for the 2023 plan year, who would have otherwise faced steep premium increases.
Back in 2019, long before the American Rescue Plan passed, I embarked on an ambitious project. I wanted to see what the real-world effects would be of passing a piece of legislation which would eliminate the Affordable Care Act's so-called "Subsidy Cliff" while also strengthening the subsidy formula for those who qualified. Call it "ACA 2.0" for short, if you will (that's what I do, anyway).
This legislation has been around in near-identical form under one official title or another for years, usually bundled within a larger healthcare package. In 2018 it was called the "Undo Sabotage & Expand Affordability of Health Insurance Act of 2018" (or "USEAHIA" which is about as awkward a title as I can imagine.
This post was very personal for me because it was inspired by my own family moving from an ACA exchange individual market policy over to the student plan my wife (and therefore our son and myself) qualifies for due to her enrolling at Oakland University here in Michigan, where she's getting her counseling degree.
The plan being offered to all students (including graduate students and their families) was a Gold PPO through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Here's how it compared against the closest equivalent policies available on the ACA exchange at the time, assuming we didn't qualify for any ACA subsidies (remember, this was before the American Rescue Plan beefed up & enhanced the subsidies to those earning more than 400% of the Federal Poverty Level):
