The data below comes from the GitHub data repositories of Johns Hopkins University, except for Utah, which comes from the GitHub data of the New York Times due to JHU not breaking the state out by county but by "region" for some reason.
I've made some more changes:
Every county except those in Alaska lists the 2020 Biden/Trump partisan lean; Alaska still uses the 2016 Clinton/Trump results. I define a "Swing District" as one where the difference between Biden & Trump was less than 6.0%. FWIW, there's just 188 swing districts (out of over 3,100 total), with around 33.8 million Americans out of 332 million total, or roughly 10.2% of the U.S. population.
For the U.S. territories, Puerto Rico only includes the case breakout, not deaths, which are unavailable by county equivalent for some reason.
With these updates in mind, here's the top 100 counties ranked by per capita COVID-19 cases as of Saturday, January 30th, 2021 (click image for high-res version).
Blue = Joe Biden won by more than 6 points; Orange = Donald Trumpwon by more than 6 points; Yellow = Swing District
I've done my best to label every state/territory, which obviously isn't easy to do for most of them given how tangled it gets in the middle. For cases per capita, the most obvious point is that New York and New Jersey, which towered over every other state last spring, are now utterly dwarfed by North & South Dakota, although things are getting pretty horrible everywhere now.
North Dakota has reached 12.8% of the entire population having tested positive, or over 1 out of every 8 residents.
South Dakota is up to 12.2%, or more than 1 out of every 9 residents.
Rhode Island, Utah, Tennessee, Arizona and Iowa are up to 1 out of every 10 residents having tested positive.
40 states have seen at least 1 out of every 15 residents test positive.
EVERY state except New Hampshire, Washington, Oregon, Maine, Hawaii & Vermont (along with 4 U.S. territories) have now surpassed 1 out of every 20 residents having tested positive.
Today, the Biden‐Harris Administration announced a Special Enrollment Period, allowing Americans to enroll and purchase on‐Exchange health insurance plans from their respective on‐Exchange marketplaces. On behalf of the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange and Nevadans statewide, we are pleased to see positive change taking place at the federal level and to witness the fast‐moving actions to protect the Affordable Care Act (ACA), upon which so many Americans rely for quality, affordable and comprehensive health insurance coverage.
This news comes on the heels of our announcement that nearly 82,000 Nevadans enrolled on Nevada Health Link for coverage in 2021. That’s nearly a six percent increase from last year’s enrollment total.
Today’s news from the White House speaks volumes about how the new Administration will continue to support the ACA and help to bolster the health insurance marketplace, protecting hundreds of millions of Americans.
Governor Murphy Announces Extension of Affordable Care Act Enrollment Period for Uninsured In New Jersey In Response to COVID-19 Pandemic
New Jersey Joins Biden Administration in Effort to Assist Residents Through Special Enrollment Period
TRENTON – Following the Biden Administration’s health care action today, Governor Phil Murphy announced the State is extending the health insurance enrollment period for uninsured residents to sign up for coverage through Get Covered New Jersey, the state’s official health insurance marketplace, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Statement of Nate Clark, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), MNsure
Re: New executive orders signed by President Biden today that support state-run ACA insurance exchanges like MNsure
ST. PAUL, Minn.—"MNsure welcomes this news and the Biden Administration’s efforts to strengthen the Affordable Care Act to increase access to quality, comprehensive health coverage. As the nation continues to fight the deadliest pandemic in a century, the changes President Biden is making will benefit Minnesotans who need the peace of mind that comes with knowing you have health care coverage.
"President Biden’s executive order directs federal agencies to look at ways to protect and strengthen access to health insurance and increase protections for those who have preexisting conditions, including complications related to COVID-19.
Washington Health Benefit Exchange (Exchange) announced today it will open a special enrollment period that parallels the new federal enrollment period which runs from Feb. 15 through May 15, 2021.
“Having health insurance is critically important in these challenging times of COVID,” said Chief Executive Officer Pam MacEwan. “Opening a corresponding special enrollment period in our state gives more uninsured Washingtonians the chance to get needed coverage for 2021.”
The special enrollment period will apply to anyone seeking health insurance coverage. Individuals shopping for coverage during this special enrollment period that select coverage by the 15th of the month will begin receiving coverage the first of the following month.
This was probably inevitable: via Connect for Health Colorado (email):
Colorado to Re-Open Enrollment for Individual Health Insurance
DENVER – Today, President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order that re-opens enrollment on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. While the order pertains to states that use the federal exchange, HC.gov, Colorado’s exchange, Connect for Health Colorado will mirror the order by re-opening enrollment.
Coloradans without health insurance will be able to enroll in coverage through C4HCO.com between Feb. 8 - May 15, 2021. Health insurance coverage will begin on the first day of the month following plan selection. This Special Enrollment period is for people who are without health insurance and begins a week earlier than the federal exchange.
The wording of this is important: This SEP is for uninsured residents specifically; presumably it is not open to those who are simply looking to switch from one ACA policy to another. My guess is there will be a checkbox or whatever for enrollees to attest that they do not currently have health insurance coverage.
Frankly, re-opening HC.gov is actually one of the simplest and most obvious healthcare-related executive orders Biden could give at the moment. Now that the starting/ending dates are known, it raises one other important question.
President Biden to Sign Executive Orders Strengthening Americans’ Access to Quality, Affordable Health Care
The Biden-Harris Administration will open a Special Enrollment Period for Americans to sign up for health coverage and roll back attacks on the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, and access to reproductive health care
Strengthening Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
The ACA was originally designed with the intention that all documented Americans living in all 50 states (+DC) earning up to at least 138% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) would be eligible for Medicaid. Unfortunately, the 2012 NFIB v. Sebelius ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court stated that Medicaid expansion under the ACA had to be left up to each individual state.
This meant that each state had to decide, whether by legislation, executive order (depending on the state) or ballot initiative, whether or not to expand the low-income public health program or not. Under the ACA, any state which does so will have 90% of the cost paid for by the federal government, while the state has to pony up the other 10% of the cost.
I just realized that while I've broken out state-level 2021 Open Enrollment data between Medicaid expansion & nonexpansion states, I haven't posted the state-level 2021 vs. 2020 data in a single table yet, so I'm rectifying that today. Note that this still only includes partial data for 5 states (CA, DC, MA, NJ & WA) and no data at all for 3 others (NY, RI, VT).
For that matter, Open Enrollment is still ongoing in either 5 or 6 states (Maryland depends on your POV...they ended OEP in December but re-launched it a few weeks ago in response to the COVID-19 pandemic).
While the data below is incomplete, this seems like a good time to see where things stand given that President Biden is widely expected to announce a re-launch of Open Enrollment tomorrow.
Last summer the Trump administration announced that they were slashing their advertising budget by 90%, from $100 million to just $10 million.
They also announced that they were slashing $23 million out of the navigator/outreach program for open enrollment.
That means they cut HealthCare.Gov's total budget by $113 million.
So my question is this: Where exactly did that money go?
For that matter, assuming HC.gov is set to bring in $300 million more this year, but doesn't plan on reinstating that $113 million for advertising/outreach, doesn't that mean they should be profiting by over $400 million? Again, if so, where is that money going?
In an news which surprises absolutely no one, this Thursday the Biden Administration is expected to officially announce a COVID-19 Special Enrollment Period at HealthCare.Gov, the federal ACA exchange which hosts enrollment for 36 states:
Thursday: ‘Health Care’ day
...The president is also slated to sign an executive order aimed at strengthening Medicaid and initiating an open enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act.
Trump frequently bragged about gutting the Affordable Care Act by rescinding the individual mandate, though Republicans were unable to fully repeal the law as promised.
Roughly two to three million people lost employer sponsored health insurance between March and September, and even families who have maintained coverage may struggle to pay premiums and afford care. Further, going into this crisis, 30 million people were without coverage, limiting their access to the health care system in the middle of a pandemic. To ensure access to health coverage, President-elect Biden is calling on Congress to subsidize continuation health coverage (COBRA) through the end of September. He is also asking Congress to expand and increase the value of the Premium Tax Credit to lower or eliminate health insurance premiums and ensure enrollees - including those who never had coverage through their jobs - will not pay more than 8.5 percent of their income for coverage.
Together, these policies would reduce premiums for more than ten million people and reduce the ranks of the uninsured by millions more.
The data below comes from the GitHub data repositories of Johns Hopkins University, except for Utah, which comes from the GitHub data of the New York Times due to JHU not breaking the state out by county but by "region" for some reason.
I've made some more changes:
Every county except those in Alaska lists the 2020 Biden/Trump partisan lean; Alaska still uses the 2016 Clinton/Trump results. I define a "Swing District" as one where the difference between Biden & Trump was less than 6.0%. FWIW, there's just 188 swing districts (out of over 3,100 total), with around 33.8 million Americans out of 332 million total, or roughly 10.2% of the U.S. population.
For the U.S. territories, Puerto Rico only includes the case breakout, not deaths, which are unavailable by county equivalent for some reason.
With these updates in mind, here's the top 100 counties ranked by per capita COVID-19 cases as of Friday, January 22nd, 2021 (click image for high-res version).
Blue = Joe Biden won by more than 6 points; Orange = Donald Trumpwon by more than 6 points; Yellow = Swing District
I've done my best to label every state/territory, which obviously isn't easy to do for most of them given how tangled it gets in the middle. For cases per capita, the most obvious point is that New York and New Jersey, which towered over every other state last spring, are now utterly dwarfed by North & South Dakota, although things are getting pretty horrible everywhere now.
North Dakota has broken 12.5% of the entire population having tested positive, or over 1 out of every 8 residents.
South Dakota is up to 11.9%, or more than 1 out of every 9 residents.
Utah, Rhode Island and Tennessee are up to 1 out of every 10 residents having tested positive.
38 states have seen at least 1 out of every 15 residents test positive.
EVERY state except New Hampshire, Washington, Oregon, Maine, Hawaii & Vermont (along with all 6 U.S. territories) have now surpassed 1 out of every 20 residents having tested positive.
Navigators play a vital role in helping consumers prepare applications to establish eligibility and enroll in coverage through the Marketplaces and potentially qualify for an insurance affordability programs. They also provide outreach and education to raise awareness about the Marketplace, and refer consumers to health insurance ombudsman and consumer assistance programs when necessary. Navigators are funded through federal grant funds and must complete comprehensive federal Navigator training, criminal background checks, and state training and registration (when applicable), prior to assisting consumers.
Nevada’s State Based Exchange enrolls nearly 82,000 Nevadans during Open Enrollment Period for 2021 coverage
Enrollment exceeds 2019 figures by nearly 6 percent
(CARSON CITY, NV) – The Silver State Health Insurance Exchange (Exchange), Nevada’s state agency that helps individuals get connected to budget-appropriate health coverage through the online marketplace, Nevada Health Link, enrolled 81,903 Nevadans during the 2020 health insurance Open Enrollment Period, connecting tens of thousands of Nevadans statewide to Affordable Care Act (ACA) compliant health plans. These enrollment figures exceed 2019’s enrollment figures by 4,493 – a 5.8 percent increase.
January 22, 2021 – The Massachusetts Health Connector announced today it is continuing Open Enrollment until March 23, providing additional time for state residents to access affordable, quality health insurance, particularly those hurt by the economic impacts of COVID-19.
With Massachusetts just having become the 3rd state where COVID-19 has killed more than 1 out of 500 residents, this isn't surprising (New York announced an Open Enrollment extension thru the end of March yesterday; New Jersey is still set to end theirs as of January 31st as of this writing Maryland, where COVID has "only" killed 1 out of 900, is extending theirs thru March 15th).
With Open Enrollment ongoing, Massachusetts residents who do not have health insurance have a new opportunity to get coverage through the Health Connector. This includes commercial plans through the ConnectorCare program, which provides help paying monthly premiums, and also offers low co-pays and no deductibles.
Back in November I noted that enrollment in Medicaid via ACA expansion has increased dramatically here in Michigan since the COVID-19 pandemic struck, increasing by 23% from 673,000 in February 2020 to 829,000 in November.
Today the Michigan Dept. of Insurance & Financial Services just issued the following press release:
More than 1 Million Michiganders Obtained 2021 Health Coverage from the Health Insurance Marketplace and the Healthy Michigan Plan
(LANSING, MICH) After an extensive joint outreach campaign by the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), more than 1 million Michiganders obtained health coverage for 2021 during the Health Insurance Marketplace open enrollment period or through the state’s expanded Medicaid program.
Joseph R. Biden took office yesterday at around 11:50am (around 10 minutes ahead of the noon, I should note...I don't know if that's typical or if it was done slightly early for security reasons).
According to Worldometers, as of 1/20/21, the 50 United States & 6 U.S. Territories had officially reported 415,905 cumulative COVID-19 deaths since the first official case was reported exactly one year earlier. According to the COVID Tracking Project, the official U.S. death toll is at 398,000 people. Johns Hopkins University puts it at 408,000, and the CDC put it at just over 400,000. If you average these out, the Trump Administration concluded with around 405,000 officially diagnosed COVID-19 deaths.
Not entirely unexpected, though I'm pretty irritated that they still haven't released any enrollment data to date. Via NY State of Health:
Press Release: Governor Cuomo Press Release: As Part of New York’s Ongoing Response to the COVID-19 Panedmic, Governor Cuomo Announces Open Enrollment for New Yorkers Extended Through March 31
Amid Global Pandemic, High-Quality Health Insurance More Important Than Ever
As part of New York's ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the Open Enrollment Period for uninsured New Yorkers will be extended through March 31, 2021. New Yorkers can apply for coverage through NY State of Health, New York's Official Health Plan Marketplace, or directly through insurers.
Access Health CT, Connecticut's state-based ACA exchange, has updated their enrollment summary and now reports 104,946 residents have selected policies for 2021, including 19,056 new enrollees.
Last year they had a total of 107,833 QHP selections during Open Enrollment, so they end the 2021 Open Enrollment Period down 2.7% year over year.
There's no formal press release, so this total might not be official but it should be pretty close.
UPDATE: I've been sent the full powerpoint slideshow from Access Health CT's monthly board meeting, which is chock full of the details; I've pulled the most important ones:
Nearly 180,000 Coloradans Signed Up for Health Insurance through the Marketplace
DENVER – 179,661 Coloradans signed up for a health insurance plan by the end of the Open Enrollment period, according to preliminary data released today by Connect for Health Colorado®. This is about 8 percent above last year’s end of Open Enrollment total. 69% of the customers who enrolled in a 2021 plan qualified for financial help to reduce their monthly premium.
“I’m pleased that so many people took advantage of this year’s enrollment period,” said Chief Executive Officer Kevin Patterson. “It’s essential that we all have health coverage in place to protect ourselves and our families this year.”
Outside of the Open Enrollment period, Coloradans can still sign up for a health insurance plan through the Marketplace if they experience a Qualified Life Event, like losing job-based insurance, losing Health First Colorado (Medicaid) coverage or due to certain family and income changes. Residents can continue to get help signing up for coverage from certified Brokers and community-based Assisters.
Before November 8th, 2016, I was secretly planning on shutting down (or at least mothballing) ACA Signups as soon as the 4th Open Enrollment period was over. Traffic had been gradually dropping off as people got used to the ACA & it started to fade from the headlines. My official day job as a website developer had suffered. What was supposed to have been a 6-month hobby in my spare time had turned into a full-time job, and I had lost web clients along the way. I figured it would be time to wind down ACA Signups & refocus on my web business.
nstead...well, you know what happened. On November 9th, 2016, I changed the header to this graphic, assuming that the ACA was doomed. I even registered ACASignoffs.net and redirected it to the site. I intended to keep the revised header up for 24 hours as a symbolic gesture.
Note: This is the second or third time that I'm cribbing a bit from my friend & colleague Andrew Sprung over at Xpostfactoid. If you like my healthcare policy analysis/writing style and follow me on Twitter, you should follow him at @xpostfactoid as well.
Over at Xpostfactoid, Andrew Sprung beat me to the punch by several days with an excellent two-part look at the "ACA 2.0 Hunger Games" scenario.
During the Democratic primary season, I posted a simple graph which boiled down the four major types of healthcare policy overhaul favored by the various Democratic Presidential candidates...which also largely cover the gamut of systems preferred by various Democratic members of the House and Senate.
Way back in October 2013, I launched the ACA Signups project as a light, nerdy hobby thing which was only supposed to last around six months, through the end of the first ACA Open Enrollment Period (March 31, 2014). Instead...well, let's just say that it's more than seven years later and I'm still doing this.
The reality is that The Graph itself doesn't serve a whole lot of useful function anymore. The enrollment patterns were erratic the first couple of years but have since settled into a pretty predictable...if not downright boring pattern for both the federal and state exchanges. The main reason I keep doing it each year is mostly out of tradition these days; after all, without The Graph, there wouldn't be an ACA Signups and I wouldn't have become a healthcare policy wonk in the first place.
The data below comes from the GitHub data repositories of Johns Hopkins University, except for Utah, which comes from the GitHub data of the New York Times due to JHU not breaking the state out by county but by "region" for some reason.
I've made some more changes:
Every county except those in Alaska lists the 2020 Biden/Trump partisan lean; Alaska still uses the 2016 Clinton/Trump results. I define a "Swing District" as one where the difference between Biden & Trump was less than 6.0%. FWIW, there's just 188 swing districts (out of over 3,100 total), with around 33.8 million Americans out of 332 million total, or roughly 10.2% of the U.S. population.
For the U.S. territories, Puerto Rico only includes the case breakout, not deaths, which are unavailable by county equivalent for some reason.
With these updates in mind, here's the top 100 counties ranked by per capita COVID-19 cases as of Friday, January 15th, 2021 (click image for high-res version).
Blue = Joe Biden won by more than 6 points; Orange = Donald Trumpwon by more than 6 points; Yellow = Swing District
I've done my best to label every state/territory, which obviously isn't easy to do for most of them given how tangled it gets in the middle. For cases per capita, the most obvious point is that New York and New Jersey, which towered over every other state last spring, are now utterly dwarfed by North & South Dakota, although things are getting pretty horrible everywhere now.
North Dakota has broken 12.5% of the entire population having tested positive, or over 1 out of every 8 residents.
South Dakota is up to 11.9%, or more than 1 out of every 9 residents.
Utah, Tennessee, Rhode Island and Iowa are on the verge of passing 1 out of every 10 residents.
34 states have seen at least 1 out of every 15 residents test positive.
As Open Enrollment Deadline Nears, Residents Urged to Sign Up for Health Insurance at Get Covered New Jersey
8 in 10 Qualify For Financial Help to Lower Costs
TRENTON – As the Open Enrollment deadline nears, Governor Phil Murphy, Department of Banking and Insurance Commissioner Marlene Caride, and state legislators today urged residents in need of health insurance for 2021 to sign up for a plan at Get Covered New Jersey.
Open enrollment for the state’s official health insurance marketplace, Get Covered New Jersey ends January 31, 2021. Commissioner Caride reminded New Jerseyans that open enrollment is the only time during the year when residents can enroll in coverage, unless they have a major life event that qualifies them for a Special Enrollment Period or they qualify for NJ FamilyCare. With nearly two weeks left in open enrollment, now is the time to visit Get Covered New Jersey to shop for quality, affordable health insurance and to enroll in a plan by the January 31, 2021 deadline.
2021 Open Enrollment for Health Coverage Ends This Friday
Act before midnight, Jan. 15, to secure health insurance for this year
Washington Healthplanfinder is alerting all Washingtonians still seeking health insurance that they have until midnight, Jan. 15, to select a health and dental plan for the upcoming 2021 plan year. Coverage for those who enroll before the deadline will start Feb. 1.
“This is the last call for any individuals and families who have not signed up for a health and dental plan,” said Chief Executive Officer Pam MacEwan. “With only a few hours remaining before the deadline, people that still need 2021 coverage should sign up before it is too late.”
More than 79,000 Idahoans Enroll in 2021 Health Insurance Coverage
BOISE, Idaho – More than 79,000 Idahoans signed up for 2021 health insurance coverage through the state health insurance exchange, Your Health Idaho, during the annual open enrollment period.
Compared to the same time last year, enrollments on the exchange are down by approximately 10,000. This decline is attributed in large part to the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting public health emergencies and protected coverage policies.
Last year's official Idaho Open Enrollment Period (OEP) Qualified Health Plan (QHP) total was 78,431, so 79,000 should be slightly higher, not 10,000 lower. What's going on here?
As I explained, every year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) puts together a bunch of proposed modifications to the implementation details of the ACA. Some are simple clarifications of existing procedures; some are minor tweaks; and some are major changes. Of the major changes, some are positive...and some are negative. In the case of the 2022 NBPP, there are examples of all three...and the major changes are really major. As in, ranging from harmful to likely flat-out illegal.
For 2022, there were several NBPP items which seem either innocuous or are actually good ideas...but there are a couple of pretty questionable ones and a few more which would be outright devastating (there are also a few involving things like Risk Adjustment which I'm not familiar enough with to comment on one way or the other).
ST. PAUL, Minn.—The Minnesota Insulin Safety Net Program was created to help Minnesotans who face difficulty affording their insulin. The program is made up of two parts: the urgent need program and the continuing need program.
The urgent need program—eligible Minnesotans can receive a 30-day supply of insulin immediately at their pharmacy for no more than $35.
The The continuing need program—eligible Minnesotans can receive up to a year supply of insulin for no more than $50 per 90-day refill.
To be eligible for the urgent need program, you must—
New Mexico would raise a state health-insurance tax and dedicate the new revenue to programs intended to make health care more affordable under a proposal that passed the state House on Sunday.
Rep. Deborah Armstrong, D-Albuquerque, described the legislation as an unusual opportunity to generate more revenue for health care without increasing the total amount consumers now pay.
The increased state tax would partially replace a federal tax that’s being repealed, she said, meaning health insurance carriers would actually be charged less in taxes than they are now, even after the state increase.
The legislation, House Bill 278, would raise about $125 million in annual revenue when fully phased in — the bulk of it dedicated to a new fund for health care affordability, according to legislative analysts.
As a reminder, "effectuations" have paid the first month premium and are good to go. Plan selections still need payment to start.
As I noted at the time, MA is one of just two states (the other is Rhode Island) which handles premium payments internally, which means they can easily track not just how many people have enrolled but how many have actually made their payments.
Yesterday I requested and received an update six weeks later, and was surprised to see the total number drop slightly:
Hispanic leaders to discuss the vulnerability of Hispanic communities to COVID-19 and state of enrollment opportunities at 6th Annual Hispanic Leadership Health Forum; Virtual enrollment and outreach events scheduled throughout the week
WHAT:
Despite national studies showing the Hispanic community saw the biggest drops in uninsured rates thanks to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the uninsured rate for the Hispanic community continues to be significantly higher than in other minority communities, according to a recent United States Census report.
In celebration of the National Hispanic Enrollment Week of Action, DC Health Link—in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Latino Affairs (MOLA), Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GWHCC), Mary’s Center and other community based organizations—will host its Annual Hispanic Enrollment Week of Action. DC Health Link is using this Enrollment Week of Action to accelerate outreach efforts to promote, educate and motivate Hispanics to enroll in quality, affordable health insurance. The Hispanic Enrollment Week of Action runs from January 12, 2021 through January 16, 2020.
COVID-19 treatment, diagnosis and vaccines included in all Nevada Health Link plans
Open Enrollment ends at 11:59 p.m. Jan. 15, 2021 – three more days remaining
(CARSON CITY, NV) – With only three days remaining in Open Enrollment for 2021 health coverage, Nevada Health Link, the online health insurance marketplace operated by the state agency, the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange (Exchange), reminds Nevadans that all plans include access to COVID-19 related diagnosis and treatment, including COVID-19 vaccines when they become available.
Last Days before Washington Healthplanfinder Open Enrollment Deadline
With the Jan. 15 deadline looming, Washingtonians still seeking 2021 health coverage must act now to select a plan on Washington Healthplanfinder. Customers have less than three days to shop for coverage that begins Feb. 1.
Traffic on Washington Healthplanfinder continues to be brisk this week as customers rush ahead of Friday’s deadline. So far, over 218,000 Washingtonians have signed up for 2021 coverage, including more than 40,000 new customers.
“The surge of enrollees securing health and dental coverage has been steady and shows the impact that the pandemic has had on our state,” said Chief Executive Officer Pam MacEwan. “There is limited time left for those who still haven’t enrolled in coverage and I encourage them to review their options on Washington Healthplanfinder.”
Back on December 19th, my colleagues Colin Baillio and Andrew Sprung picked up on something I had posted in response to the semi-final 2021 Open Enrollment snapshot report:
STATE LEVEL:
--25 out of 36 states outperformed last year
--Best % increase y/y: TEXAS (+14.9%)
--Worst $ decrease y/y: KENTUCKY (-6.7%)
I have no idea if there's anything special in either state which caused either to do as well/poorly as they did relative to last year.
From the state totals one obvious pattern leaps out: enrollment is up 9.7% in states that have not enacted the ACA Medicaid expansion -- and down 0.5% in states that have expanded the expansion (including Nebraska, which opened the Medicaid expansion doors in October of this year).
Approximately 8.3 million people selected or were automatically re-enrolled in plans using the HealthCare.gov platform during the 2021 Open Enrollment period.
These snapshots provide point-in-time estimates of weekly plan selections, call center activity and visits to HealthCare.gov or CuidadoDeSalud.gov. The final snapshot reports new plan selections, active plan renewals and automatic renewals. It does not report the number of consumers who paid premiums to effectuate their enrollment.
As a reminder, New Jersey and Pennsylvania transitioned to their own State-based Exchange platforms for 2021, thus they are not on the HealthCare.gov platform for 2021 coverage. Those two states accounted for 578,251 plan selections or 7% of all plan selections during the 2020 Open Enrollment Period. Plan selections for 2021 coverage in these two states will not appear in our figures until we announce the State-based Exchange plan selections.
Way back in October 2013, I launched the ACA Signups project as a light, nerdy hobby thing which was only supposed to last around six months, through the end of the first ACA Open Enrollment Period (March 31, 2014). Instead...well, let's just say that it's more than seven years later and I'm still doing this.
The reality is that The Graph itself doesn't serve a whole lot of useful function anymore. The enrollment patterns were erratic the first couple of years but have since settled into a pretty predictable...if not downright boring pattern for both the federal and state exchanges. The main reason I keep doing it each year is mostly out of tradition these days; after all, without The Graph, there wouldn't be an ACA Signups and I wouldn't have become a healthcare policy wonk in the first place.
Covered California Begins New Year With a Record Number of Plan Selections, Serving Those Hardest Hit by the Pandemic, as State Experiences Post-Holiday Surge of New COVID-19 Cases
New law clearly separates short term limited medical plans from Health Link
RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - Broker Alex Sampson is busy these days helping local residents connect with a health insurance program through Nevada Health Link.
But just seven days ago, a new law went into effect here in Nevada which may make the process less confusing for consumers looking for health care insurance coverage on their own.
The law impacts short term limited health medical plans. These are plans which provide very limited coverage for one year only to customers and could be confused with policies on Health Link.
“They are being advertised as extremely affordable plans,” says Janel Davis, Health Link Communications Officer. “But again when they go to use those plans and they go to the hospital for example, what they are finding out; what they need health wise is not covered,” says Davis.
Needless to say, it's been difficult to focus too much on healthcare issues the past few days.
In addition, it's not like the deadly invasion, occupation & attempted coup attempt of the U.S. Capitol by a violent mob incited by the President of the United States himself has a whole lot of healthcare policy side stories, unless you're talking about the entire incident also being a COVID-19 superspreader event, what sort of healthcare coverage the dozens of injured police officers have or whether eye injuries due to being maced are covered by healthcare policies.
However, this breaking announcement seems to fit the bill. via Rachana Pradhan of Kaiser Health News, on Twitter:
Whoa: the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, whose companies provide health insurance to 100+ million Americans across the country, is suspending political contributions to members of Congress who objected to the Electoral College count. Statement below:
The data below comes from the GitHub data repositories of Johns Hopkins University, except for Utah, which comes from the GitHub data of the New York Times due to JHU not breaking the state out by county but by "region" for some reason.
I've made some more changes:
I've now completed updating the partisan lean for every county except Alaskato the 2020 Biden/Trump results. Alaska still uses the Clinton/Trump 2016 results, although I can't imagine more than one or two regions changed status there this year.
I've also added columns listing the actual Biden/Trump vote percentage for each county to give a feel for how partisan it is. Again, I'm defining "Swing District" as any county where the difference is less than 6.0%. There's 188 swing districts (out of over 3,100 total), with around 33.8 million Americans out of 332 million total, or roughly 10.2% of the U.S. population.
I've also added all U.S. territories, including a county-equivalent breakout for Puerto Rico, as well as American Samoa, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. None of these vote in the general Presidential election, of course, but I'm still tracking their COVID-19 case & death rates. None show up in the top 100 of either ranking, however. Note that Puerto Rico only includes the case breakout, not deaths, which are unavailable for some reason.
With these updates in mind, here's the top 100 counties ranked by per capita COVID-19 cases as of Friday, January 8th, 2021 (click image for high-res version).
Blue = Joe Biden won by more than 6 points; Orange = Donald Trumpwon by more than 6 points; Yellow = Swing District
Record number of Washingtonians secured health insurance coverage through Washington Healthplanfinder in 2020
In a year defined by a health crisis, 2020 saw more than two million Washingtonians enrolled in Washington Apple Health (Medicaid) and Qualified Health Plans. This is a new record high number of individuals and families obtaining health coverage through Washington Healthplanfinder, the online portal administered by the Washington Health Benefit Exchange (Exchange). Over 1 in 4 Washingtonians are using Washington Healthplanfinder to find and enroll in health coverage. Open enrollment for 2021 coverage runs through Jan. 15 of this year with coverage starting Feb. 1.
Approximately two million residents received free or low-cost Apple Health coverage, and the remaining 215,000 enrolled in Qualified Health Plans. This past December saw an average of 1,500 individuals a day enrolled in Apple Health.
Access Health CT, Connecticut's state-based ACA exchange, has updated their enrollment summary and now reports 102,704 residents have selected policies for 2021, including 16,764 new enrollees.
Last year they had a total of 107,833 QHP selections during Open Enrollment, which they're 4.8% away from breaking.
Connecticut residents still have until January 15th to #GetCovered via AccessHealthCT.com.
I've done my best to label every state/territory, which obviously isn't easy to do for most of them given how tangled it gets in the middle. For cases per capita, the most obvious point is that New York and New Jersey, which towered over every other state last spring, are now utterly dwarfed by North & South Dakota, although things are getting pretty horrible everywhere now.
North Dakota has broken 12.3% of the entire population having tested positive, or nearly 1 out of every 8 residents.
South Dakota is up to 11.5%, or more than 1 out of every 9 residents.
25 states have seen at least 1 out of every 15 residents test positive.
Colorado Sees 9% Increase in Health Insurance Marketplace Enrollments Ahead of Jan. 15 Deadline
DENVER — A year-over-year comparison shows Connect for Health Colorado enrollments are currently trending 9 percent higher. Nearly 172,000 people so far have signed up for a health insurance plan through the state’s official marketplace, surpassing last year’s Open Enrollment Period total of 166,850 sign ups.
Hmmm...172,000 is actually only 3.1% higher than 166,850, but I'm assuming they mean it's 9% higher than the number of 2020 enrollments as of January 6th. A 9% final increase would require a final 1/15 tally of around 181,866, so they'll need to tack on another 10,000 or so in the final 9 days.
But there is still time to enroll. With the Jan. 15, 2021 enrollment deadline approaching, Coloradans have just over a week left to choose a plan for coverage that will start Feb. 1.
ALBANY, N.Y. (January 06, 2021) – NY State of Health, the state’s official health plan Marketplace, wants New Yorkers to know it is not too late to get health insurance coverage for 2021, even if they have missed the December 31 enrollment deadline. The Marketplace is reminding consumers to enroll in a Qualified Health Plan (QHP) by January 15 for coverage effective February 1.
“NY State of Health remains steadfast in our commitment to getting uninsured New Yorkers the coverage they deserve,” said NY State of Health Executive Director, Donna Frescatore. “The marketplace continues to provide affordable, comprehensive health care options during the COVID-19 public health emergency, and we encourage anyone who needs health insurance to enroll now.”
The Marketplace offers many quality, low-cost health insurance options, with a choice of insurers in every county. Free enrollment assistors are available by phone to help individuals find the best plan for themselves and their families.
UPDATE 4/03/21: I've confirmed with a highly-trusted source that this isn't happening...at least not before the Supreme Court issues their ruling, anyway.
As noted below (scroll all the way down), it appears that a $1.00 penalty would be too small to make the reconciliation cut, which means the only way to #MootTheSuit via reconciliation would be to change the mandate back to an amount large enough to have a significant impact on the budget...which presumably means several hundred dollars.
I mean, if they're gonna do that, they might as well just restore it to the original $695/2.5% of income while they're at it.
Nevada Health Link, the online health insurance marketplace operated by the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange (Exchange), reminds Nevadans that Open Enrollment for a comprehensive, Affordable Care Act (ACA) compliant health plan for 2021 ends on Jan. 15, 2021.
As of Jan. 3, 77,900 Nevadans have enrolled to date. That exceeds last year’s enrollment total by nearly 500, and the number is expected to increase with a typical surge prior to the end of Open Enrollment on Jan. 15.
Nevada Health Link is the only place consumers can qualify for subsidies to help offset the cost of monthly premiums, and four out of five Nevadans who purchase a plan on Nevada Health Link qualify for financial assistance (tax credits).
All plans offered through the Exchange cover the ten essential health benefits including pre-existing conditions and all COVID-19-related diagnosis and treatment. Consumers who enroll on or before Jan. 15 will have coverage effective on Feb. 1, 2021.
As part of the state’s overall response to the coronavirus, and in an effort to prioritize health and safety, Maryland Health Connection opened a new special enrollment period for uninsured Marylanders to enroll in a private health plan. Here’s what you need to know:
When your coverage begins
The coronavirus emergency special enrollment period will begin immediately and ends Monday, March 15. Here are the dates coverage will begin, depending on what day you enrolled in a health plan:
Enroll now-Jan. 15, coverage starts Jan.1
Enroll Jan. 16-Feb. 15, coverage starts Feb.1
Enroll Feb. 16-March 15, coverage starts March.1
How do I enroll?
To enroll, visit MarylandHealthConnection.gov or download the free “Enroll MHC” mobile app. Select “Coronavirus Emergency Special Enrollment Period.”
Access Health CT, Connecticut's state-based ACA exchange, has updated their enrollment summary and now reports 102,190 residents have selected policies for 2021, including 15,310 new enrollees.
Last year they had a total of 107,833 QHP selections during Open Enrollment, which they're 5.2% away from breaking.
Connecticut residents still have until January 15th to #GetCovered via AccessHealthCT.com.
The data below comes from the GitHub data repositories of Johns Hopkins University, except for Utah, which comes from the GitHub data of the New York Times due to JHU not breaking the state out by county but by "region" for some reason.
I've made some more changes:
I've now completed updating the partisan lean for every county except Alaskato the 2020 Biden/Trump results. Alaska still uses the Clinton/Trump 2016 results, although I can't imagine more than one or two regions changed status there this year.
I've also added columns listing the actual Biden/Trump vote percentage for each county to give a feel for how partisan it is. Again, I'm defining "Swing District" as any county where the difference is less than 6.0%. There's 188 swing districts (out of over 3,100 total), with around 33.8 million Americans out of 332 million total, or roughly 10.2% of the U.S. population.
I've also added all U.S. territories, including a county-equivalent breakout for Puerto Rico, as well as American Samoa, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. None of these vote in the general Presidential election, of course, but I'm still tracking their COVID-19 case & death rates. None show up in the top 100 of either ranking, however. Note that Puerto Rico only includes the case breakout, not deaths, which are unavailable for some reason.
With these updates in mind, here's the top 100 counties ranked by per capita COVID-19 cases as of Thursday, December 31st, 2020 (click image for high-res version).
Blue = Joe Biden won by more than 6 points; Orange = Donald Trumpwon by more than 6 points; Yellow = Swing District
I've done my best to label every state/territory, which obviously isn't easy to do for most of them given how tangled it gets in the middle. For cases per capita, the most obvious point is that New York and New Jersey, which towered over every other state last spring, are now utterly dwarfed by North & South Dakota, although their surge seems to be finally dropping (although "dropping" is a relative term...it's still pretty awful everywhere).
North Dakota has broken 12% of the entire population having tested positive. South Dakota is up to 11%. A half-dozen other states are hovering between 8-9% of the population being infected.
