West Virginia

According to this article, WV's uninsured rate in 2013 stood at rougly 255K, of which 150K were eligible for the ACA's Medicaid expansion provision. Apparently they hit 145K as of 2 weeks ago...or 97% of the total eligible.

Now, the way the article words it, it's conceivable that the 145K figure could include some renewals and/or "woodworkers", which would mean that the actual percent of newly eligible WV residents is somewhat lower.

However, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates, as of last fall WV actually had around 267K uninsured, of which only 143K were eligible for Medicaid expansion. Furthermore, as of mid-July, the number of Medicaid enrollees specifically designated as "due to ACA expansion" already stood at 132,556, which means that we're talking about some number between 132K - 145K...out of some other number between 143K - 150K.

In other words, West Virginia has now enrolled a minimum of 88% of those eligible for Medicaid expansion...up to a maximum of 101%!!

Wow! This editorial is fairly short but chock full of great up-to-date enrollment data: Exchange QHP enrollment has risen exactly 6,000 people since April 19 (an increase of over 30%); the Medicaid expansion tally is up by 4,556 to 132,556 people (almost 93% of the total eligible), and the overall uninsured rate has plunged from 17% to just 6.6%...all in less than 10 months. Amazing.

President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act is a superb success in West Virginia, according to new reports.

A total of 132,556 lower-income West Virginians have gained coverage through the Medicaid expansion approved by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. An additional 25,856 were able to enroll in subsidized private insurance plans. And about 18,000 young adults were allowed to remain covered by their parents’ policies until age 26.

That’s more than 176,000 Mountain State people who gained the ability to visit a doctor, get prescriptions filled or receive hospital care. Hurrah. It’s a big advance for compassion and humane values. Everyone should have access to medical treatment, and nobody should be left out.

The Kaiser Family Foundation estimated that WV has 143,000 residents eligible for Medicaid expansion. This means the state has now enrolled nearly 89% of them:

"The fast-track enrollments, on average, cost West Virginia about $6.50 less than would a full Medicaid application," the report states, estimating the staff worker received $14 dollars per hour.

Multiplying the 71,860 people who enrolled by that dollar amount provided a savings of roughly $470,000, according to the report. The state spent $200,000 in IT upgrades that also allowed it to mine the SNAP data base for potentially eligible residents. Subtracting those costs, the report argues the state saved about $270,000.

Bowling said the most up-to-date data show about 128,000 people have joined Medicaid through the expansion, much more than the roughly 91,000 anticipated to sign up. She said that success means the state probably won't send out another round of letters, but the numbers keep rising as those eligible may sign up at any time.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, about 143,000 residents are eligible for expanded Medicaid under the ACA, so this means that the state has already signed up over 86% of the total eligible since October:

Under the health care reform law, West Virginia expanded its Medicaid program to cover those who earn up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line, or about $16,000 a year for an individual. As of May 27, 123,403 West Virginia residents had signed up for Medicaid under the expanded program.

I actually already posted an entry using this exact same story out of the WV Gazette, but thanks to Esther Ferington for pointing out something else that I missed in the article:

Health insurance enrollment numbers through the federal exchange surged to 18,631 between March 31 and the April 15 federal extension, Highmark West Virginia President Fred Earley said.

Highmark, the only insurer participating in West Virginia's Affordable Care Act insurance marketplace, also reported that 6,171 people have enrolled directly through Highmark since Oct. 1. 

The numbers released represent the highest jump in enrollment the company has seen since the ACA rollout; it reported in April that, as of March 31, 14,839 people had enrolled through the exchange and 5,292 purchased plans directly through Highmark. 

There's some off-exchange numbers here as well (6,171), but that's from Highmark, so I can't double-count it (part of BCBSA).

However, the Medicaid/CHIP numbers continue to astonish in WV:

The DHHS also reported that 136,418 West Virginians enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP through the end of March. According to Jeremiah Samples, deputy secretary for the state’s Department of Health and Human Resources, West Virginia has enrolled 117,522 people in expanded Medicaid — more than twice the 63,000 that actuarial studies had predicted for the first year of enrollment.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the total number of people eligible for ACA Medicaid expansion in WV is around 143,000...meaning that they've managed to achieve an amazing 82% of this goal in the just 7 months.

Excellent find by contributor deaconblues; HighMark is one of the few major insurance companies which has been very open about their off-exchange QHP enrollments. This press release contains some great updates for 3 different states, including a total exchange QHP update for West Virginia (since HighMark is the only insurance company operating on the exchange there anyway):

Highmark's total enrollment* for individuals who have purchased Affordable Care Act-compliant plans both on the federal marketplace exchange and through Highmark directly:

Pennsylvania: 148,003 total with 104,324 on-exchange and 43,679 off-exchange
West Virginia: 20,131 total with 14,839 on-exchange and 5,292 off-exchange
Delaware: 13,010 total with 9,187 on-exchange and 3,823 off-exchange

Through both on- and off-exchange purchases, Highmark had a noteworthy percentage of new members, which are likely those who were previously uninsured or had insurance with a competitor.

Pennsylvania: 53 percent new members
West Virginia: 63 percent new members
Delaware: 67 percent new members

WV's Medicaid expansion has been absolutely astonishing. They've now added nearly 105K, up from 98K, meaning that 73% of the state's eligible population has now been enrolled in the program:

The total federal projection since Jan. 2014 in West Virginia was 63,000, said Jeremiah Samples, Department of Health and Human Resources assistant to the secretary. By Friday, 104,820 people had signed up, he said.

...Samples said the reason West Virginia nearly doubled the projected number of enrollment was by identifying potential participants using information on existing food stamps and Medicaid applications. Only one of four states with this kind of auto enrollment, the process garnered around 118,000 enrollees, he said.

Excellent news out of West Virginia: Medicaid expansion has increased yet again, from 87,000 to 98,000 residents. This is particularly impressive considering that the total number of people in WV who are eligible for Medicaid post-expansion is about 143,000, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Doris Selko, Southern Regional coordinator for the West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, said over 98,000 residents had enrolled in the Medicaid expansion by March 15 and an estimated 105,000 are expected to be enrolled by the end of the month.

Selko said three southern counties — Nicholas, Summers and Wyoming — have all enrolled over 100 percent of the anticipated enrollment numbers, and Raleigh County has enrolled 99 percent.

A beautiful find by new contributor Uncle Toby: Highmark Inc., a major insurer which serves Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Delaware, just did exactly what I've been wanting every insurer to do: They officially announced not just their off-exchange enrollments, but specified the exact date that these run through and the fact that they're all 100% ACA compliant.

As a bonus, they've included specific state-by-state breakdowns as well as a comparison against their on-exchange enrollments. 32% of PA's, 27% of WV's and 29% of Delaware's QHP enrollees to date have been off-exchange. This proves exactly what I've been saying: There are absolutely several million (at a minimum) direct QHPs out there which simply haven't been documented publicly yet.