Charles Gaba's blog

So, it's over, right? Well...not quite. The 2019 ACA Open Enrollment Period officially ended last night...but only in 43 states. In the remaining seven (+DC), Open Enrollment hasn't ended yet, and won't for anywhere from two to six more weeks from now!

2019 ACA Open Enrollment is still ongoing for fully 25% of the population!

This Just In...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 15, 2018

Covered California Extends Deadline for Jan. 1 Coverage Until Friday, Dec. 21

  • Texas District Court’s ruling on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act has no impact on Covered California’s open enrollment period.
  • Covered California is extending today’s deadline to Friday, Dec 21, for consumers who want health care coverage that starts on Jan. 1, 2019.
  • Consumers who enroll after Dec. 21, and by Jan. 15, will have their coverage start on Feb. 1.
  • While open enrollment ends in 44 states on Saturday, California is one of seven health insurance marketplaces which will enroll consumers after Dec. 15, serving 25 percent of the U.S. population.
  • 58,000 consumers have signed up since Monday, including 17,000 on Friday.

Immediately after last night's bombshell* announcement of the ruling in the Texas Fold'em lawsuit by right-wing judge Reed O'Connor, one of the numerous parts of the outrage was over the timing of the decision being announced. Just about everyone, myself included, assumed that O'Connor would either...

This Just In, via Louise Norris...

On December 15, Access Health CT announced a one-month extension for 2019 enrollment. The exchange had planned to end enrollment on December 15, but the new deadline is January 15. People who enroll between December 16 and January 15 will have coverage effective February 1, 2019.

This one may surprise you...

*WHITE HOUSE: OBAMACARE LAW REMAINS IN PLACE PENDING APPEAL

— Laura Litvan (@LauraLitvan) December 15, 2018

The recent federal court decision is still moving through the courts, and the exchanges are still open for business and we will continue with open enrollment. There is no impact to current coverage or coverage in a 2019 plan.

— Administrator Seema Verma (@SeemaCMS) December 15, 2018

The Trump Administration's Dept. of Justice was guilty of dereliction of duty when they refused to defend the law of the land against the #TexasFoldEm lawsuit in the first place, and went so far as to support the overall thrust of the plaintiffs.

"Open enrollment is full-steam ahead in California and continues in other states for several more weeks. No one in America should let this TX District Court ruling discourage them from enrolling in health coverage or be worried about using the coverage they have. This case will wind its way through the courts and I’m confident the Supreme Court will once again do the right thing and uphold the Affordable Care Act,"

--Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California

Pelosi Statement on District Judge Ruling in GOP Lawsuit Against Pre-Existing Condition Protections and the Affordable Care Act

“Tonight’s district court ruling exposes the monstrous endgame of Republicans’ all-out assault on people with pre-existing conditions and Americans’ access to affordable health care.

*....pending an immediate appeal, all the way up to the Supreme Court over the next year or so, which means a LOT of lawyers are about to make a LOT of billable hours.

Before you read anything else: DON'T PANIC. An injunction against the ACA was not included with the ruling (at least, not yet). The 2019 Open Enrollment Period is still ongoing through Saturday night in 44 states and longer than that in the other 6 + DC.

If you haven't enrolled for 2019 healthcare coverage yet, now is still the time to do so.

Signups for the 2019 ACA Open Enrollment Period have been lagging behind on HealthCare.Gov until this week. Nevertheless, as happens every year, things are heating up as people scramble to #GetCovered ahead of tomorrow's deadline.

Joshua Peck was the head of marketing for HealthCare.Gov under the Obama Administration and is now one of the folks in charge of Get America Covered, a third-party organization devoted to filling in ever since the Trump Administration's CMS (deliberately) dropped the ball. He's been checking in on HC.gov all week and keeping folks abreast of the server load/wait time/hold time situation. There were some serious issues a couple of days ago but it sounds like they've finally gotten straightened out:

7:40 AM ET and the @HealthCareGov call center already has a 20 minute wait to speak to a representative today.

— Joshua Peck (@JoshuaFAPeck) December 14, 2018

A couple of weeks ago I reported that the Washington Health Benefit Exchange had enrolled over 196,000 people in ACA exchange policies as of November 28th, putting them about 3% ahead of last year's tally as of the same date.

Today they issued another unofficial update which pegs their total at "more than 200,000 Washingtonians" (there's no exact number provided):

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington Health Benefit Exchange is alerting all customers today that less than 72 hours remain before the deadline to sign up in 2019 health and dental coverage through Washington Healthplanfinder. Customers who have not yet selected a plan have until the close of open enrollment at 11:59 p.m. this Saturday, Dec. 15 to select their coverage for next year.

This just in...

Consumer Interest Surges as First Key Deadline Approaches for Covered California and the Individual Market

  • More than 150,000 new consumers selected a plan through Dec. 12.
  • Consumer interest is surging, with more than 28,000 consumers selecting a plan during the past three days.
  • Consumers must sign up by Dec. 15 in order to have their coverage start on Jan. 1, 2019. Open enrollment in California continues through Jan. 15.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Covered California announced today that 150,191 new consumers signed up for coverage through Dec. 12. Consumer interest is once again surging ahead of a key deadline, with more than 10,000 people signing up on Wednesday, and more than 28,000 selecting a plan within the past three days.

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