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.
HealthSherpa continues to be the largest private channel for ACA enrollments in the US, insuring over 5 million people for 2023 and growing more than 50% year over year
In its strongest season yet, HealthSherpa has enrolled more than 5 million people in Plan Year 2023 coverage and enrolled HALF of all new Affordable Care Act enrollees in Federally Facilitated Marketplace (FFM) states during Open Enrollment. HealthSherpa now accounts for 35% of all FFM enrollments and volume grew more than 50% year over year, far outpacing the FFM as a whole which grew only 13% (1).
This Tax Season, PA takes the Path to Pennie™ for Quality, Accessible Health Coverage
This tax season, uninsured Pennsylvanians can enroll in quality, low-cost health coverage through Path to Pennie™. The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue and Pennie have teamed up to allow uninsured tax filers the ability to get covered outside of Open Enrollment. When completing their Pennsylvania state income tax return, individuals can indicate interest in getting covered through Pennie.
Uninsured Pennsylvanians will be able to indicate they are without health insurance through an optional tax form called, REV-1882 ‘Health Insurance Coverage Information Request.’ This form creates a simple and straightforward way for Pennsylvanians to specify that they, their spouse, and/or their dependents do not have health coverage and are interested in learning more about the services provided by Pennie.
Covered California Provides New Opportunities for People to Sign Up for Health Insurance Through Special Enrollment
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Covered California is reminding Californians that they still have an opportunity to sign up for quality health insurance and get financial help to lower the cost of their monthly premiums even though open enrollment ended on Jan. 31. Every year, Covered California allows people who have experienced a significant life event to sign up for coverage during special enrollment.
“Californians can still protect themselves and their families with quality health insurance for the rest of the year, if they have had a major change in their lives,” said Jessica Altman, executive director of Covered California. “If you have recently lost your coverage, gotten married, had a baby, or have been affected by California’s winter storms, visit CoveredCA.com to check out what plans are available to you.”
Special enrollment remains open for those who qualify for, but are not enrolled in, Cascade Care Savings
More than 60% of Washington Healthplanfinder customers are in a Cascade Care plan
Washington Health Benefit Exchange (Exchange) released its 2023 Enrollment Preview Report today. Nearly 231,000 customers signed-up for a 2023 qualified health plan through Washington Healthplanfinder, including 37,000 new customers.
“We had our highest net enrollment gain and launched the new Cascade Care Savings during open-enrollment for 2023, resulting in our highest percentage of subsidized customers and highest percentage of plan switching,” Exchange interim CEO Jim Crawford said.
The exact QHP total, according to the preview report, was 230,800, down 3.7% from the 2022 Open Enrollment Period.
As I noted this morning, while the 2023 ACA Open Enrollment Period has now officially ended in all states, there's still a lot of Special Enrollment Period (SEP) exceptions for people who have Qualified Life Experiences (QLEs) such as losing their current coverage, turning 26, moving, getting married/divorced, giving birth and so forth.
There's also year-round enrollment available for members of Native American tribes, as well as those eligible for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Finally, in most states, residents are eligible to enroll year-round as long as their income is below a certain threshold--usually 150% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), somewhat higher in some states, including New York, where residents earning. up to 200% FPL can enroll in the Essential Plan year-round.
However, as I keep noting, there's still plenty of people who are eligible to enroll in ACA healthcare coverage during the off-season (thanks to Louise Norris for providing some of the links below):
With time running out, Covered California announced new enrollment data and encouraged consumers to sign up for coverage before this year’s open-enrollment period ends.
As of Jan. 29, more than 240,000 consumers had newly signed up for health insurance through Covered California during the current open-enrollment period. In addition, more than 1.5 million Californians have renewed their coverage for another year.
That's a grand total of at least 1,740,000 people...or around 21,000 higher than CMS had reported California being at as of January 15th. Note the "more than" clarifier re. the 1.5M figure; this suggests that the actual total could be as much as ~40K or so higher.
The press release talks about "more than 35 million" being enrolled, but when you look at the actual data, it's almost certainly over 36 million as of today. Here's how they break it out:
Effectuated ACA exchange enrollment as of March 2022: 13,640,412
Medicaid Expansion (newly eligible) as of October 2021: 16,781,800
Medicaid Expansion (previously eligible) as of October 2021: 4,261,277
Basic Health Plan enrollment as of March 2022: 1,135,190
TOTAL: 35,818,679
Notice that even without delving further, the total is already over 35.8 million.
However, there's two important dates to look at here: First, the Medicaid Expansion totals are only up to date as of last October, a good 6 months ago.
City leaders to join DC Health Link for whirlwind final weekend of Open Enrollment featuring barbershop outreach, pizza delivery outreach, door-to-door canvassing, and enrollment marathon with unique events at barbershops, Ben's Chili Bowl and all over DC
WHAT/WHO:
Because District residents have only four days left to sign up for health insurance coverage before the Open Enrollment deadline, DC Health Link is crisscrossing the city this weekend to make sure every resident in high uninsured areas of the District has the opportunity to enroll in quality, affordable health insurance. DC Health Link is holding its signature Enrollment Marathon and partnering with local businesses, city leaders, and civic groups to offer District residents FREE one-on-one, and virtual, enrollment help over the weekend at different locations throughout the District. These additional enrollment opportunities will help residents get covered before the Open Enrollment Period ends at midnight January 31, 2023.
