New Mexico: BeWell NM enrolls 49.8K QHP enrollees via nifty new enrollment data portal, up 43% y/y so far!

BeWell NM, New Mexico's state-based ACA exchange, has launched a very handy new Enrollment Data portal which includes plenty of info for a data hound like myself to pore over. The initial 2024 Open Enrollment Period numbers are impressive...but also a bit misleading if you don't know how the exchange enters data.

First, the top line numbers (as of 12/14/23):

• Number of enrolled consumers: 50,442
• Consumers enrolled in Medical coverage: 49,765
• Consumers enrolled in Dental coverage: 12,321

While dental coverage is also important, standalone dental plans aren't considered Qualified Health Plans (QHPs); it's the "Medical Coverage" which is the key number here.

Also, the total number above may look confusing, but most of the Medical & Dental coverage enrollees overlap:

• Medical Only: 38,121
• Dental Only: 677
• Medical + Dental: 11,644

For comparison, last year BeWell NM reported enrolling just 37,056 peple (including auto-renewals) through December 17th.

This breaks out to:

• 2024 OEP: 49,765 in 44 days (1,131/day)
• 2023 OEP: 37,056 in 47 days (788.4/day)

In other words, New Mexico's Open Enrollment is a stunning 43% ahead of last year at the same point in time...with a month left for people to enroll.

In fact, last year's final total enrollment came in at  40,778, which means 20204 OEP enrollment is already 22% higher than last year's final tally!

Anyway, the portal also provides several other tabs of ongoing data: Metal level breakout, subsidy type & amount breakouts, enrollee income levels and even how many applications were completed/enrolled vs not completing the process. Very helpful indeed.