Odds 'n Ends: TRICARE & ACA enrollment as it relates to November

A reader sent in an interesting report on the DoD's TRICARE program, which apparently was already an existing military version of the ACA "young adults on parents plans" provision. Prior to the ACA, TRICARE only covered young adults up to 21 or 23; the ACA expanded this to the same 26 year old cut-off as non-military families:

Page 52 - As shown in the chart at left, enrollment went from over 21,000 in FY 2012 to almost 31,000 in FY 2013. 

Also, although TYA began with the Standard option, Prime now accounts for almost 60 percent of total TYA enrollment.

This is in reference to the Tricare Young Adult program coverage for those under 26. This is a small amount but doesn't seem to fit anywhere except the under 26 coverage.

Tricare used to cover dependents under 21 with extension to 23 for those in school. The ACA enable expansion to under 26 for a fee ($180/month)

I'm not adding this to the actual spreadsheet since a) it's such a tiny number and b) it's hard to say how many of the 10K increase is specifically due to the ACA, but I thought it was worth at least mentioning.

UPDATE: I've received confirmation that the full 31,000 actually is due to the ACA, since the first 21K were added due to earlier ACA provisions from 2010 on.

Meanwhile, Greg Sargent over at the Washington Post's Plum Line has done some HHS report analysis and noticed some interesting patterns:

It turns out that several of the states with some of the hardest fought races of the cycle are also boasting some of the highest Obamacare sign-up numbers in the country.

In Florida, some 983,000 people are now signed up for private insurance through the federal exchange — up from 442,000 at the end of February. This is in a state where the Dem candidate for Governor — Charlie Crist — happens to be running on a very pro-Obamacare message.

...In North Carolina, some 357,000 people have now signed up for coverage through the federal exchange — up from 200,000 at the end of February. This could become more of an issue in the days ahead: Senator Kay Hagan has previously attacked likely GOP foe Thom Tillis for opposing setting up a state exchange and opposing the Medicaid expansion as state House speaker.

...In Michigan, some 272,000 people have now signed up for coverage through the federal exchange — up from around 144,000 people at the end of February. On top of that, the Medicaid expansion is kicking in, which will add hundreds of thousands more. The Dem candidate there, Gary Peters, has already proven willing to attack GOP opponent Terri Lynn Land for opposing the Medicaid expansion.

In the wake of the announcement of eight million Obamacare enrollments, Elise Vieback has a terrific piece this morning explaining that enrollments have beat administration expectations in the majority of states with competitive Senate races:

Seven states exceeded expectations by the end of the special enrollment period in mid-April, including six with Senate seats currently held by Democrats. 

In Louisiana, which beat its target by 8 percent, more than half of enrollments took place in the last six weeks. 

New Hampshire and North Carolina had the best results of the 11 states, achieving 211 and 187 percent of their enrollment goals…Michigan, Colorado, Montana and Georgia also beat expectations. 

The "attack Obamacare at all costs" all-in strategy adopted by the GOP has just been turned on its head, it appears.