A few weeks ago, Pennie (Pennsylvania's ACA exchange), like several other state-based exchanges, put out a simple statement celebrating the passage of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and the dramatic improvement in ACA affordability that it brings for the next two years. Like most of the other exchanges, Pennie's initial press release was pretty bare-bones, as the bill had just been signed into law and there were a ton of logistical details to be worked out.
Implement ARP provisions as soon as possible, and as broadly as possible, to maximize savings for Pennie customers
Automate these provisions, to the extent possible, to ensure that the benefits under the new law reach Pennie customers without requiring customer action
Ensure that customers who need to take an action are given specific instructions on what they need to do to maximize their benefits
Use this unique opportunity to connect more Pennsylvanians to comprehensive coverage and reduce the number of uninsured throughout the Commonwealth
Last week the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange issued a press release touting impressive enrollment numbers over the past year via their year-long COVID-19 Special Enrollment Period (SEP). The topline number was that they enrolled over 140,000 Maryland residents in either ACA exchange policies or Medicaid.
Since Medicaid enrollment is open year-round anyway, the number I'm obviously more interested in are the exchange plans, which most people can normally only enroll in during the official Open Enrollment Period each fall/winter. Since COVID has thrown that mostly into disarray, however, I've been keeping a close eye on SEP enrollment in 2020 and now in spring of 2021 as compared to the pre-COVID era, when the SEP rules were far more strictly adhered to.
The Kaiser Family Foundation has updated their ACA Exchange Subsidy Calculator tool, which lets you plug in your household information and calculate how much you're eligible for in subsidies, as well as telling you things like:
Your percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL)
The full-price benchmark Silver plan
Your net price for the benchmark Silver plan
The net price of theleast-expensive Bronze plan
The maximum you'd have to pay in out-of-pocket costs
It's been updated to reflect the newly-expanded & enhanced subsidies available under the American Rescue Plan for 2021 & 2022. The official ACA exchange websites will have this data available over the next few weeks depending on which state you live in (HealthCare.Gov is supposed to go live on April 1st; Covered California on April 12th; other states will vary):
Connect for Health Colorado Extends Enrollment Period through at least August 15
DENVER — Yesterday afternoon, President Biden announced that the federal health insurance marketplace, HealthCare.gov, will extend the current enrollment period through August 15, 2021, to help as many people as possible get covered following the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Connect for Heath Colorado® Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Patterson, released the following statement in response:
“We will follow the federal decision so that we can help as many Coloradans as possible get covered this year. Keeping our doors open through at least mid-August maximizes the number of people who can apply for financial help and enroll through our Marketplace, especially as our state recovers from the pandemic. We will share more details soon about how Coloradans who are newly eligible for benefits under the American Rescue Plan can get those additional savings.”
At the time, HealthCare.Gov had reported 206,000 Qualified Health Plan (QHP) selections as of February 28th. I also had some partial COVID SEP data from a handful of the state-based ACA exchanges, as of various dates. I had 225,000 QHPs confirmed nationally.
At the time, I concluded that based on the enrollment pace of the first few weeks...
As noted above, Medicaid expansion states have only increased average SEP enrollment by around 2/3 as much as Non-expansion states. Since all 15 state-based exchanges have expanded Medicaid, this suggests that the 206K via HC.gov probably represents more like 80% of the total, meaning perhaps 258,000 nationally (~168,000 more than average).
Launching a new special-enrollment period – Covered California will open a new special-enrollment period – which will start on Monday, April 12 and run through the end of the year – to give uninsured and unsubsidized Californians time to sign up for coverage that starts as soon as May 1 and continue the outreach and enrollment effort to have marketing pay-off over time.
Today, President Biden announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is extending access to the Special Enrollment Period (SEP) until August 15 – giving consumers additional time to take advantage of new savings through the American Rescue Plan. This action provides new and current enrollees an additional three months to enroll or re-evaluate their coverage needs with increased tax credits available to reduce premiums.
On March 20th, the Vermont Health Connect ACA exchange joined other state-based exchanges in launching a formal COVID-19 Special Enrollment Period.
On April 15th, just ahead of the original SEP deadline, they bumped it out by a month.
Then, with the May deadline approaching, I took a look and sure enough, they've bumped it out another month.
And now, with the June deadline having come and gone...
Due to the COVID-19 emergency, Vermont Health Connect has opened a Special Enrollment Period until August 14, 2020.
I admit that this is starting to get a bit silly. At a certain point I'm guessing at least one of the state exchanges will just say "screw it" and open 2020 enrollment up for the full year.
Statement re: 11th Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act
Heather Korbulic, executive director, Silver State Health Insurance Exchange
Tomorrow, March 23, 2021, marks 11 years since the passing of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the landmark reform law that is credited with increasing access to quality healthcare for millions of Americans, forever changing the national healthcare landscape.
Here in Nevada, the ACA is responsible for the creation and ongoing operations of the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange that has provided healthcare coverage to hundreds of thousands of Nevadans who would otherwise be without coverage to receive essential and critical healthcare services. Since the passage of the ACA and the implementation of Nevada Health Link, the Exchange’s online marketplace for ACA-compliant insurance plans, Nevada's number of uninsured has decreased from a staggering 23 percent to 11 percent.
Washington Health Benefit Exchange Issues Statement on the Signing of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
Pam MacEwan, CEO Washington Health Benefit Exchange (Exchange), issued the following statement today following the signing of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021:
“The new stimulus plan is great news for both our current Exchange customers as well as the uninsured who have not been able to afford health insurance. Enhanced premium assistance will help people afford and keep health coverage during the current pandemic.
“Our enduring goal is to ensure that every Washingtonian can get affordable health insurance coverage for themselves and their family. Today’s landmark legislation takes the necessary steps to help those who face high insurance costs that have prevented them getting health coverage for 2021 and 2022.
This is from a couple of weeks ago; I'm reposting it standalone for clarity. via HealthSource RI:
New Federal Changes Mean An Increase In Financial Help for Most HealthSource RI Customers; New Customers May Also Enroll Now
EAST PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (March 11, 2021) — Recent changes at the federal level mean most HealthSource RI (HSRI) customers will soon be paying less for their health coverage. This change will result in the federal government providing an additional $30 million dollars in Advanced Premium Tax Credits (APTCs) that will bring premium costs down for HealthSource RI customers.
