I've written several times before about how health insurance risk pools work. I even whipped up a crude video explainer about them a couple of years back. The healthiness or lack thereof of a given risk pool is the biggest factor involved in determining how expensive or inexpensive insurance policy premiums will be.
This year, my own family became a perfect example of this. Unlike most health insurance horror stories you often hear about, the final results in our case are positive...although we did go through a brief panic attack period before getting there.
My wife and I are both self-employed, and have a few recurring medical issues. We have one child, a teenager with Asperger's syndrome and a (fortunately fairly mild) case of cerebral palsy, which means long-term physical therapy and some other recurring medical expenses. Since we'd max out the deductible on a Silver plan each year, we've been enrolled in an ACA exchange Gold HMO plan since 2015. It's expensive even with partial subsidies, but we don't want to risk a major hole in coverage if at all possible.
DENVER — Nearly 167,000 Coloradans signed up for a health insurance plan through the state’s official Marketplace by the end of the Open Enrollment period, according to preliminary data released today by Connect for Health Colorado.
Among the 2020 plan selections, about 20 percent are by customers who are new to Connect for Health Colorado and 80 percent are returning customers.
“This has been another successful Open Enrollment period,” said Chief Executive Officer Kevin Patterson. “Now the work continues to increase access, affordability and choice for residents. We are fully engaged with partners at the state and in the legislature to advise and help implement innovative approaches to lower the cost of health care and increase choice.”
However, in the wake of that back & forth, a Twitter follower of mine, a woman of color who goes by the handle @Kamalaallday, posted an angry rant which I felt lent a lot of insight as to why many in the black community aren't nearly as keen on "Medicare for All" as envisioned by Sanders and other M4All activists as you might expect.
I already knew about some of her complaints and concerns below, but not all of it. Instead of putting words in her mouth, I'm just gonna let her speak for herself.
I've embedded the first tweet directly, but have converted the rest of the thread into bullets and reworked the structure (putting half-sentences together and adding paragraph breaks, etc.) for easier readability, but have otherwise left her entire thread as is. I strongly advise that folks read it all...food for thought:
The calculation doesn’t include the last day of open enrollment, but Access Health officials reported Thursday that enrollment was down 2.7% in 2020.
An estimated 106,376 Connecticut residents enrolled with either ConnectiCare or Anthem Health Plans. That’s fewer than the estimated 111,066 who signed up for coverage last year.
I'm not sure where she gets 2.7%...that's a 4.2% drop year over year. They tacked on another 200 or so per day over the final week or so...if you assume a small surge on the final day they might top out at 107K, which would be perhaps a 3.7% drop.
A few more useful data nuggets:
It was the fourth year in a row that there was a drop in customers qualifying for federal tax credits to off-set the cost of the monthly premiums. An estimated 69% of those who enrolled this year are eligible for a subsidy. That’s a drop from 78% in 2016.
Well, I kind of lost track of the status of those bills over the summer and fall, but apparently most of them passed through both the New Jersey state House and Senate because just moments ago, NJ Governor Phil Murphy issued the following press release:
Certified In-Person Assistors Provide Enrollment Opportunities at MLK Day Events Across the State Leading up to January 31 Enrollment Deadline
ALBANY, N.Y. (January 16, 2020) – NY State of Health, the State’s official health plan Marketplace, today announced participation in several Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day events being held throughout the State. Certified In-Person Assistors will be at events celebrating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to ensure New Yorkers have access to high-quality, affordable health care and to answer questions regarding enrolling or re-enrolling through the Marketplace. All events are open to the public.
“We are excited to meet New Yorkers at events celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to help them find a quality, low-cost health plan during Open Enrollment,” said NY State of Health Executive Director Donna Frescatore. “Enrollment in a 2020 Qualified Health Plan runs through January 31, and our participation in these events offers New Yorkers another opportunity to complete the enrollment process.”
Covered California Continues to See Strong Interest and Reminds Consumers That Penalty Is Back for 2020 as Open-Enrollment Deadline Approaches
More than 269,000 consumers have newly enrolled during the current open-enrollment period, which continues in California through Jan. 31.
A new law requires Californians to have health insurance in 2020 or face a penalty when they file their taxes with the Franchise Tax Board in 2021.
The penalty can be $2,000 or more for a family of four.
New research shows that many Californians, particularly the uninsured, are unaware of the new penalty or the new financial help that is available for the first time this year.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Covered California announced new data as it approaches the final two weeks of the annual open-enrollment period and reminded consumers about the new state penalty and additional financial help that went into effect with the new year.
As of Saturday, Jan. 4, more than 269,000 consumers had newly signed up for health insurance through Covered California during the current open-enrollment period, which is an increase of 18 percent above the number of consumers who had enrolled at this time last year. In addition, more than 1.15 million existing Covered California members have renewed their coverage for 2020.
Latino leaders to discuss state of enrollment opportunities at 6th Annual Hispanic Leadership Health Forum; Enrollment and outreach events scheduled throughout DC
Despite national studies showing the Latino community saw the biggest drops in uninsured rates thanks to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the uninsured rate for Latinos continues to be significantly higher than in other minority communities, according to a United States Census report.
DC Health Link, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Latino Affairs (MOLA), the Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and many community-based organizations, will host its annual, action-packed week of intensive enrollment and outreach activities during its Annual Hispanic Enrollment Week of Action. DC Health Link is using this Week of Action to accelerate outreach efforts to promote, educate and motivate Latino enrollment in quality, affordable health insurance. The Hispanic Enrollment Week of Action runs through January 19, 2020.
This is the last in my 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate Healthcare Policy series. In some cases I did wonky, in-depth analyses; in others I've simply given an overview with some notes here and there.
Andrew Yang's falls into the latter category, not because of any bias against him, but simply due to a lack of time on my part to give it a more detailed review.
Officially, Yang supports "Medicare for All", but like several other candidates both now and in the past, this isn't quite the same "Medicare for All" that Bernie Sanders is pushing (and which Elizabeth Warren is mostly still pushing):
We are having the wrong conversation on healthcare.
Instead of addressing the underlying problems driving unaffordability and access, we Democrats are spending all our time arguing over who is the most zealous in wanting to cover Americans. Over who has wanted to do so longer. Over who cares more about the health of Americans.
On Wednesday, January 15, 2020, the Massachusetts Health Connector embarks on a one-day, multi-city tour that includes stops at six locations along the North and South Shore to remind Massachusetts residents there is still time to get 2020 health coverage before Open Enrollment ends January 23.
On Wednesday, January 15, 2020, the Massachusetts Health Connector holds its “Day of Coverage” featuring activities across the Commonwealth designed to help people #GetCovered with health insurance for the new year.“Day of Coverage” activities will be held in Boston, Hyannis, Lawrence, New Bedford, and Lowell.
Open Enrollment is happening now and runs through January 23, 2020. Massachusetts residents who want to enroll in coverage or switch plans to start February 1, must sign up through the Health Connector by January 23rd.
Residents can sign up for coverage at www.MAhealthconnector.org, over the phone at 1-877-MA-ENROLL (1-877-623-6765), or in person through a local navigator organization.
