California

Covered California Logo

via Covered California:

  • Covered California’s first open-enrollment deadline is this week: People need to sign up by Dec. 31 in order to have their coverage start on Jan. 1.
  • The deadline comes as the omicron variant is spreading across California, with the average cost of COVID-related hospitalizations and ICU care at $127,000, underscoring the importance of having insurance to avoid medical debt.
  • Having health care coverage, staying COVID-safe and getting vaccines and booster shots are critical to protecting your health and the health of your family and community.
  • An estimated 1.1 million Californians are uninsured and eligible for financial help from Covered California or Medi-Cal, and the majority could get comprehensive coverage at no cost.

La versión en español de este Comunicado puede ser descargada en este enlace

Covered California Logo

via Covered California:

  • The virtual tour will reach into media markets across California to promote open enrollment and the increased financial help that is now available, which is lowering the cost of coverage for more people than ever before.
  • An estimated 1.1 million Californians are uninsured and eligible for financial help, including 83,000 in San Diego County, with the vast majority able to get coverage at no cost through either Covered California or Medi-Cal.
  • New data from Covered California shows how much protection and peace of mind insurance provides, with the uninsured facing staggering out-of-pocket costs if they visit an emergency room or are admitted into a hospital.
  • People who want their coverage to start on Jan. 1, 2022, must sign up by Dec. 31, 2021. Covered California’s open-enrollment period runs through Jan. 31, 2022.
Covered California Logo

via Covered California:

Insurance Agents Get Big Compensation Boost to Help Enroll and Renew Millions of Californians, Who Are Benefiting From More Financial Help Than Ever

  • Agents enroll about half of Covered California’s consumers and have directly helped more than 2.3 million people sign up for coverage free of charge since the exchange first opened its doors in 2014.
  • The move will bolster independent agents across the state, who provide support to consumers free of charge, as more financial help is available than ever before as open enrollment is underway.
  • The increased payments will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022, and will benefit the more than 10,000 Licensed Insurance Agents who are certified by Covered California and work in every part of the state.
Rate Changes

As I noted last night, thanks to the federal Rate Review website finally being updated to include the final, approved 2022 rates for both the individual and small group markets in all 50 states (+DC), I've been able to fill in the missing data for my annual ACA Rate Change Project.

As I note there, the overall weighted average looks like it'll be roughly +3.5% nationally.

Normally I write up a separate entry for both the preliminary and approved rate changes in each individual state, but it seems like overkill to create 14 separate entries at once. Besides, in many of these states there's been few if any changes between the preliminary and approved rate changes.

Covered California Logo

via Covered California (from a week or so ago, but still):

  • The 4 percent weighted average rate change for Covered California for Small Business is the second lowest since 2014.
  • Covered California’s small-business marketplace continues to expand, with more than 70,250 members to date and double-digit percentage membership growth for the seventh consecutive year.
  • Covered California for Small Business also announces an expansion of its four-tier offering as employers can now choose to offer employees the option of selecting from all metal tiers effective Oct. 1. 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Covered California for Small Business unveiled the health plan choices and rates for small-business employers and their employees for the upcoming 2022 plan year. The statewide weighted average rate change is 4 percent, which represents the second-lowest annual increase in the program’s seven-year history. The rate change is lower than national projected increases for larger employers.

Covered California Logo

via Covered California:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Covered California announced on Thursday that executive director Peter V. Lee has informed the board that he will leave the organization in early 2022. Lee has served as Covered California’s first and only executive director, helping launch the exchange in 2012 and leading the organization that has provided millions of Californians with access to affordable, quality health coverage.     

“I’ve been privileged to be part of the Covered California team and the broader effort in this state to do everything we can to use the Affordable Care Act to expand coverage and ensure those with coverage get the right care at the right time,” Lee said. “I will be stepping down as Covered California’s executive director after the upcoming open-enrollment period, with pride and confidence in the team at Covered California, who have taught me so much and who are poised to continue our important work.”

Covered California Logo

via Covered California:

  • An estimated 138,000 Californians face significantly higher health insurance premiums when their federal COBRA subsidies come to an end on Sept. 30.
  • Covered California opened a special-enrollment period to give eligible COBRA recipients an opportunity to switch their coverage and potentially save hundreds of dollars a month on their health insurance.
  • Many of those consumers will be able to stay with their same brand-name insurance company when they switch to Covered California.
  • People who sign up by Sept. 30 will have their coverage start on Oct. 1.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Covered California announced a special-enrollment period for Californians who will soon be losing the federal financial help that is allowing them to continue receiving health insurance through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, better known as COBRA. Under one provision of the American Rescue Plan, Californians have been eligible for financial help that pays 100 percent of their COBRA premiums from April 1 through Sept. 30.

Covered California Logo

I don't write about standalone dental insurance plan coverage very often (and honestly, neither does HealthCare.Gov or the state-based ACA exchanges), but it's obviously pretty important.

Today, Covered California made a rare announcement about dental plans:

Covered California Announces Premium Decrease for Dental Plans in 2022

Covered California Logo

via Covered California:

  • Covered California’s enrollment continues to surge — with 364,000 signing up since February, more than double normal enrollment rates — as more people sign up for coverage to benefit from the new savings and lower premiums available through the American Rescue Plan.
  • Lower-income households are getting a quality plan for an average of $35 per month, with more than 738,000 people getting brand-name plans for just $1 per month.
  • Middle-income consumers, who were previously ineligible for federal financial help, are saving an average of nearly $800 per month and seeing their monthly premiums reduced by more than 70 percent.
  • Covered California’s increased enrollment includes a higher proportion of African American and Latino Californians, two of the communities hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing recession.
  • Those who enroll by Aug. 31 would be insured starting Sept. 1.

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