Covered California is announcing a special-enrollment period through April 30 to address concerns that many Californians remain unaware of the new financial help or the new state penalty.
Hmmmm....the Special Enrollment Period is interesting. HealthCare.Gov and some state exchanges did something like this in spring 2015 (the first year people had to actually pay the mandate penalty) and managed to get around 210,000 more enrollees nationally. Of course, the penalty for 2014 was only $95 or 1% of income at the time...now it's up to $695/person or 2.5% of household income, so it's a bigger deal.
When I last checked in on Covered California a couple of weeks ago, they still had two days left before their 2020 Open Enrollment deadline, and had managed to rack up 1.51 million on-exchange enrollments. This included 1.15 million renewals of existing enrollees, plus another 364,000 new enrollees.
I noted at the time that they had just barely beaten 2019's total with two days to go, and would have to add about 7,500 more to break 2018's total, and another 43,000 to beat 2017.
Well, they ended up in between the two, partly due to an overestimate of the renewal figure:
New California Policies Make Huge Difference, Increasing New Signups During Covered California’s Open Enrollment by 41 Percent
New Special-Enrollment Period Announced to Continue to Get Word Out on New Subsidies and Penalty
DC Health Link to Offer Even More Opportunities for Residents to Get Covered
DCHBX Executive Board Votes to Allow Pre-Natal Special Enrollment Period and Four Other New Opportunities
Washington, DC – With Open Enrollment recently concluded, District residents and small businesses have new opportunities to sign up for health insurance coverage through DC Health Link. The DC Health Benefit Exchange Authority (DCHBX) Executive Board recently adopted recommendations from its Standing Advisory Board to create four Special Enrollment Periods (SEP) and an extended open enrollment period for DC small businesses.
This is very interesting. ACA Open Enrollment deadline extensions have become kind of a running joke over the years, but for the most part they've been restricted to the December deadlines. the states with deadlines already extending into January have stuck with them for the most part...until this year.
A few days ago, New York State of Health announced that they're extending their final enrollment deadline (for March 1st coverage) by a week, until midnight on Friday, February 7th.
California and New York have both released updated 2020 Open Enrollment numbers, so I figured I'd update my spreadsheet one more time before the final data is released. This time I've included a smaller secondary table at the bottom which adjusts the Federal and State-based exchange numbers for Nevada.
OFFICIALLY, HealthCare.Gov enrollment is down nearly 128,000 people this year, but that's not fair because Nevada broke off of HC.gov onto their own full state-based exchange platform this year. When you adjust for that, HC.gov is only down 119,000 people for the remaining 38 states. Meanwhile, the state-based exchanges are officially down 2,900 at the moment, but again, with Nevada joining them, they're actually down around 8,900.people.
That leaves the missing enrollment data from five states. Rhode Island and Vermont haven't released any data...I'm assuming they'll both be very close to last year (call it at least 33,000 and 24,000 respectively). I'm assuming New York + DC will be good for perhaps 3,000 more enrollees combined in their final days. And California will likely tack on another 30,000 or so in their final 2 days of Open Enrollment.
With one day left to go before the 2020 ACA Open Enrollment Period wraps up in California, the largest state ACA exchange in the country issued one more update and call to action:
Covered California Sees Thousands of People Enroll Each Day as it Approaches Friday’s Final Day of Open Enrollment
More than 364,000 consumers have newly enrolled during the current open-enrollment period, which ends at midnight on Friday, Jan. 31
More than 33,000 people have enrolled since Monday, an average of more than 11,000 people per day.
California passed two new laws for 2020, one that requires Californians to have health insurance or face a penalty, while the other offers new financial help – for the first time – to eligible consumers purchasing coverage.
Open enrollment is the one time when people can sign up for health insurance in the individual market without needing a qualifying life event.
A Small Number Of Access Health CT Consumers Will Receive Mail This Week About Their Personal Information And Should Review Carefully
HARTFORD, Conn. (January 28, 2020)—Approximately 1,100 Access Health CT consumers will be receiving an ORANGE ENVELOPE in the mail this week. It is important that consumers review this information carefully as they will need to take action to enroll in free services being offered to help protect their personal information that may have been compromised in a data breach.
“Access Health CT takes the privacy and security of consumers’ personal information seriously, and it is making this public notice in an abundance of caution,” said Chief Executive Officer of Access Health CT, James Michel. “We apologize for any inconvenience to consumers and we remain steadfast in our commitment to keep our consumers’ best interests as our number one priority.”
I just received the final 2020 Open Enrollment report from the Massachusetts Health Connector (via email, no link):
Here’s where we are:
We have 290,105 January enrollments
22,493 February and March enrollments
7,014 plans selected
For a total of 319,612
New enrollments currently total 57,044.
I wish every ACA exchange would break out their numbers this way. Simple and to the point, but also with relevant details...not only "renewals vs. new" but also how many are enrolled for January vs. February or March coverage and even how many have/haven't paid yet! The last is a bit unfair since Massachusetts is one of only two states, I believe, which actually handle premium payments (Rhode Island does as well...Washington State used to but doesn't anymore).
Here's what's truly impressive: Massachusetts is the only state to increase their ACA exchange enrollment each and every year for six years running:
Press Release: New Yorkers Have More Time to Get Covered in 2020: NY State of Health Open Enrollment Deadline Extended to February 7
Enroll Now for Affordable, High-Quality Health Coverage in 2020
Free, In-Person Enrollment Help is Available: Click Here to Find a NY State of Health Certified Assistor
ALBANY, N.Y. (January 28, 2020) – NY State of Health, the state’s official health plan Marketplace, announced that consumers will have an additional week to enroll in a Qualified Health Plan (QHP) for 2020. The Open Enrollment deadline has been extended until February 7 to give consumers more time to enroll. NY State of Health’s Customer Service Center representatives and in-person assistors are available to help individuals find the best plan for themselves and their families.
Covered California’s New Enrollment Surges Past Last Year’s Mark with More than a Week Before the Upcoming Jan. 31 Deadline
More than 318,000 consumers have newly enrolled during the current open-enrollment period, surpassing last year’s open enrollment total.
However, new research shows that many Californians – particularly the uninsured – are unaware of a new state law which requires people to have health insurance or face a penalty.
In addition, many Californians are unaware of the new financial help that is available for the first time this year, including first-in-the-nation assistance for middle-income consumers.
Open enrollment, which continues through Jan. 31, is the one time when people can sign up for health insurance in the individual market without needing a qualifying life event.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Covered California announced new enrollment data as it moved into the final week of open-enrollment and continued to reach out to consumers about the new state penalty and additional financial help that went into effect with the new year.
As of Wednesday, Jan. 22, more than 318,000 consumers had newly signed up for health insurance through Covered California during the current open-enrollment period, which surpassed last year’s total of 295,000.
