SEPs

Get Covered NJ Logo

via Get Covered NJ:

Good news! More financial help is now available through Get Covered New Jersey

New Federal and State Savings

The federal government recently passed a COVID-19 relief bill, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which was signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021. The new law will reduce health insurance premiums by providing more financial help to eligible consumers who purchase a plan through Get Covered New Jersey. The State of New Jersey is also providing more financial help to lower health insurance costs for residents enrolling at Get Covered New Jersey.

More people than ever will qualify for financial help. If you did not qualify for financial help before because your income was too high, you may qualify under the state and federal changes. If you already receive financial help, you will likely be eligible for additional premium reductions. These new changes make coverage more affordable at many income levels.

OK, this is a first...while most other states have been simply extending their existing COVID Special Enrollment Periods out through August to allow for the newly-expanded ACA subsidies, Connecticut is shutting theirs down at midnight tonight (April 15th)...but relaunching it again on May 1st:

Just posted by Access Health CT:

American Rescue Plan Act of 2021: Savings Coming for Connecticut Residents

  • You Can Start to Take Action & See Savings After May 1, 2021

A new federal law was passed in March 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act, and it changed the way we calculate financial help for customers for this year and 2022. Many more customers will now qualify for financial help to make plans more affordable. Whether you’re a first-time shopper, or an existing customer, there could be big changes ahead for your household, and we want to make sure you know how to take advantage of the new financial help available.

As a result of this new federal law:

via Connect for Health Colorado:

Connect for Health Colorado Offers More Savings to More Coloradans on Health Insurance Costs

Many Residents Can Find Coverage for Just A Few Dollars a Month

DENVER – Starting today, Thursday, April 15, Coloradans seeking health insurance can access more savings as a result of the American Rescue Plan (also known as the “COVID relief package”) when they shop through Connect for Health Colorado®. The American Rescue Plan expanded financial help for health insurance plans that people buy via the federal and state health insurance exchanges through 2022. And, for the first time, ever, Colorado individuals and families of all income ranges can qualify for reduced premiums.

“We’re ready and eager to provide these savings to more Coloradans who need relief right away,” said Chief Executive Officer Kevin Patterson. “I encourage those who need coverage to sign up. If you were unable to obtain financial help in the past, now is the time to re-apply. You might be surprised how much you can save.”

What’s Different Now?

This was apparently decided awhile ago (there was no press release), but I just learned about it today thanks to Louise Norris:

Nevada’s Response to Coronavirus

Nevada Health Link opened a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) for uninsured Nevadans, starting February 15 through August 15, 2021. The SEP is in accordance with the Executive Order issued by President Biden last month, in response to the ongoing national emergency presented by COVID-19.

  • Coming soon! Thanks to the recently passed American Rescue Plan, we’ll soon be offering more money to help pay for your coverage. Learn more here.

Visit here to learn more.

Nice catch by Andrew Sprung. Via the NJ Dept. of Banking & Insurance:

EXTENSION OF COVID-19 SPECIAL ENROLLMENT PERIOD

On January 29, 2021, the Department of Banking and Insurance (“Department”) issued Bulletin No. 21-03 advising carriers and other interested parties that an emergency COVID-19 Special Enrollment Period (“COVID-19 SEP”) would go into effect on February 1, 2021 and extend through May 15, 2021. The COVID-19 SEP ensured that New Jersey residents have access to quality affordable health insurance during a critical time in which the need to protect public health is paramount. Specifically, the COVID-19 SEP made sure that individual market coverage was available to uninsured individuals during the pandemic. It also aligned New Jersey with the Federal Special Enrollment Period which runs through May 15, 2021 and the Federal Public Health Emergency.

This just in via Connect for Health Colorado:

More Coloradans Than Ever Are Using Colorado’s Exchange to Get Covered

DENVER — In a report released today by Connect for Health Colorado, nearly 180,000 Coloradans signed up for a health insurance plan by the end of the Open Enrollment Period on Jan. 15 for 2021 coverage. The new report includes more detailed information about changes to premium costs and financial help by county, the improved customer experience and our outreach tactics.

The main number here is nothing new; C4HCO had already announced the 180K figure back in January. The report itself contains a ton of key demographic stats & details, however, which I'll get to below.

I last updated my Michigan Medicaid expansion tracking back in January.At the time, I noted that enrollment in this ACA programhas increased dramatically here in Michigan since the COVID-19 pandemic struck, increasing from 673,000 in February 2020 to 853,000 as of January 2021, or nearly 27% in less than one year.

As of April 5th, the Healthy Michigan program (that's the branding of Michigan's ACA Medicaid expansion) notes 897,261 enrollees. That's a net increase of 224,000 Michiganders enrolled in the program since last February, or over 33%.

With this as backdrop, consider the timing of the following events:

Note: A few weeks ago, I ran a rough back-of-the-envelope extrapolation of partial data from the first 2 weeks of the ongoing COVID Special Enrollment Period and concluded that IF enrollment via the 36 HealthCare.Gov states was representative nationally, and IF the pace of the last 2 weeks of February held perfectly steady, it would mean around 666,000 new enrollees via HC.gov and 832,000 nationally by the end of March. Those were two pretty big caveats, of course, and as you'll see below, the reality wasn't quite as eyebrow-raising, though it's still pretty impressive.

This just in via the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS):

2021 Marketplace Special Enrollment Period Report

February 15 – March 31, 2021

Pages

Advertisement