It's been clear for a couple of weeks now that, while many individual states have already long since surpassed it, nationally we aren't going to quite achieve President Biden's goal of at least 70% of U.S. adults getting their first COVID-19 vaccination shot.
That's around 9 million adults shy of the 7/04 target...with only around 300K - 400K adults getting their first shot each day. We're likely to end up around 7.7 million short, or right around 67% of all adults.
As the Kaiser Family Foundation's Larry Levitt just noted:
This held up. 70% of adults vaccinated by July 4th was not a low bar designed for an easy political win. And, it will still be an important goal even after July 4th passes and President Biden’s target isn’t achieved, as expected. https://t.co/J0nB9XXECu
Missouri just voted #YesOn2 to expand Medicaid, and now, because of YOUR vote, over 230,000 hardworking people will have access to life-saving healthcare!pic.twitter.com/azHN0GJjEW
— YesOn2: Healthcare for Missouri (@YesOn2MO) August 5, 2020
Republican lawmakers blocked Medicaid expansion funding from reaching the Missouri House floor on Wednesday, posing a setback for the voter-approved plan to increase eligibility for the state health care program.
The Washington Health Benefit Exchange (Exchange) reports that tens of thousands of Washingtonians now pay less each month for healthcare coverage. Within two months of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) becoming federal law, the Exchange passed on the expanded savings it made available to new and current customers on the state’s insurance marketplace, Washington Healthplanfinder.
“There has never been a better time to sign up for healthcare coverage in Washington,” said Pam MacEwan, Chief Executive Officer of the Exchange. “We’ve been hearing from people across the state who are saving hundreds or in some cases more than a thousand dollars per month.”
Tracy Roberts from Seattle posted to Facebook, “I just opened my bill for July and it’s $242 less than I presently pay . . . That’s incredible! Absolutely incredible and completely unexpected. Life will be a little easier for now.”
This, again, is a Big Deal for this year. Paired with the beefed-up APTC table, what it means is that if you're on unemployment this year you effectively don't have to pay anything for a benchmark Silver plan. I'm not sure if you have to be unemployed for the full year or not...the wording above sounds like even someone who's only on unemployment for one or two weeks would still be counted as having 133% FPL.
Sure enough, just about anyone who is either currently receiving unemployment benefits or who did earlier this year (or later this year, for that matter) is likely eligible for a FREE ($0* Premium) Silver CSR 94 plan...otherwise known as #SecretPlatinum:
I should also note that not every NBPP rule implemented by the Trump Administration (via CMS Administrator Seema Verma) has been terrible. Some are either perfectly in line with Obama-era NBPPs, inconsequential, and in a few cases have actually been good and helpful.
...Other proposed changes, however, can be either stupid or flat-out devastating. The proposed 2022 rule changes...which were pushed out after hours on Thanksgiving Eve, just 56 days before the Trump Administration ends...includes some OK ideas, but also includes some which would be harmful and one which would be disastrous (I've changed the order they're listed below to put the most troubling ones at the bottom):
The details get wonky, but the bottom line is that there were three proposed rule changes in particular which I was deeply concerned about:
As my regular readers know, a few weeks ago I dove head first into a 2-week project to graph out the COVID-19 vaccination levels per capita across all 3,100+ counties to see where things stood in all 50 states.
Given how insanely politicized the COVID pandemic has been due to the Trump Administration deliberately doing so right from the outset, I ran scatter plot graphs based on what percent of the popular vote was received in each county by Trump last November for every state.
Sure enough, I found a strong inverse correlation between the two in most states, and a weaker (but still significant) correlation in many others. Correlation does not equal causation, of course, and there are plenty of other factors involved in how rapidly a population gets vaccinated, but there's no denying that partisanship is pretty clearly a significant one.
Our son's GF moved here (Seattle) last summer from Florida. She was a few months after returning from a teaching gig in Korea (where they met), and unemployed. In FL she wasn't eligible for Medicaid, but a couple weeks after she got here I realized she would in WA.
So she signed up and it's been great, b/c in fact she did need quite a bit of overdue health services.
Now they are moving to Oregon next month and I told her, "so you're going to sign up there, right?". She tells me, "I'm not eligible there".
She shows me the Federal Benefits.gov site, and it lists for Oregon the Florida-like limitations: you have to be a parent or pregnant or disabled, etc.
I go, "that's strange..." and look up the California eligibility. Same story.
I look up WA's own eligibility according to benefits.gov - same story!!! Supposedly she's not eligible for the very same coverage she's actually enjoying right now with full approval.
Sec. 9663 – Application of premium tax credit in case of individuals receiving unemployment compensation during 2021
For 2021, provides advanced premium tax credits as if the taxpayer’s income was no higher than 133 percent of the federal poverty line (FPL) for individuals receiving unemployment compensation as defined in section 85(B) of the Internal Revenue Code.
This, again, is a Big Deal for this year. Paired with the beefed-up APTC table, what it means is that if you're on unemployment this year you effectively don't have to pay anything for a benchmark Silver plan. I'm not sure if you have to be unemployed for the full year or not...the wording above sounds like even someone who's only on unemployment for one or two weeks would still be counted as having 133% FPL.
I'm not gonna recap the whole thing yet again today (click the first link above for that), but I concluded the most recent chapter by noting:
Simply appropriating CSR payments and killing off Silver Loading would pay for more than 40% of the cost of massively upgrading the ACA (perhaps $250 billion of the $600 billion or so total 10-yr cost).
This would seem to be an obvious headline, but it's still important to have the official data. Via Rolling Stone:
This week CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said adult deaths from Covid-19 are “at this point entirely preventable” due to the effectiveness of vaccines. And a new analysis from the AP confirms what Walensky said.
According to the analysis of government data from May, released on Thursday, out of the 18,000 Covid-19 deaths during the month, approximately 150 were fully vaccinated people. That comes out to 0.8 percent, or an average of five deaths per day out of more than 200 average daily deaths. At the height of the pandemic in January of this year, average daily deaths were above 3,400 per day. Additionally, fully vaccinated people accounted for fewer than 1,200 of more than 853,000 hospitalized with the virus (0.1 percent).
Wolf Administration and Pennie Leadership Visit YMCA Health Equity Tour to Help Provide Affordable Health Coverage Resources, Health Services, and COVID-19 Vaccines to Pennsylvanians
York, PA – The Wolf Administration and Pennie leadership today provided information on health resources and affordable health coverage, as well as COVID-19 vaccinations to visitors during a YMCA Health Equity Tour at the York City Branch of the YMCA.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the health inequities across the commonwealth,” Pennsylvania Department of Health Acting Secretary Alison Beam said. “We are here at the York stop on the YMCA and Pennie Health Equity Tour to discuss a variety of educational health services and to encourage Pennsylvanians to receive a free COVID-19 vaccine today. We want to make sure all underserved communities are vaccinated and have an opportunity to enroll in affordable health coverage.”
For the past couple of weeks, I've been on a marathon session of analyzing and graphing out total enrollment in Medicaid in every state for each month from 2014 until now (using estimates based on the best available data for the first part of 2021).
Now that I've completed this for all 50 states +DC, I'm bringing it all together into a single national graph showing how enrollment has changed over time.
Aside from the initial ramping up of enrollment after ACA Medicaid expansion went into effect in most states starting in early 2014 (and an odd drop-off/jump in California in the third quarter of 2017), enrollment was pretty steady at the national level...until COVID struck in early 2020.
The passing of Chadwick Boseman from colorectal cancer at the age of 43 devastated so many people who looked to the “Black Panther” star and saw a hero. His death last year was particularly impactful for me, a young Black man whose mother had been diagnosed with the disease at age 34.
My mom was fortunate. She had a colonoscopy that spotted the cancer early and helped save her life.
Still, because of my family history, I am at an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer. Black men are also at higher risk as well. So just days before my 30th birthday, I underwent my first colonoscopy.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In most states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources. Unfortunately, Wyoming isn't among them, though I've estimated January enrollment based on CMS's just-released Monthly Medicaid & Chip report (which use a slightly different methodology than the MBES reports).
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
Texas is one of 12 states which still hasn't expanded Medicaid eligibility under the ACA (13 if you include Missouri, whose voters expanded the program last year...but which the state legislature refuses to fund)...and by far the largest.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
Tennessee is one of 12 states which still hasn't expanded Medicaid eligibility under the ACA (13 if you include Missouri, whose voters expanded the program last year...but which the state legislature refuses to fund).
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
South Dakota is one of 12 states which still hasn't expanded Medicaid eligibility under the ACA (13 if you include Missouri, whose voters expanded the program last year...but which the state legislature refuses to fund).
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In most states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources; unfortunately, South Carolina isn't among them, though I've estimated January enrollment based on CMS's just-released Monthly Medicaid & Chip report (which use a slightly different methodology than the MBES reports).
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In most states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources. For 2021 Oklahoma data, I'm using estimates based on raw data from the Oklahoma Health Care Authority.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
North Carolina is one of 12 states which still hasn't expanded Medicaid eligibility under the ACA (13 if you include Missouri, whose voters expanded the program last year...but which the state legislature refuses to fund).
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In most states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources. For 2021 Mississippi data, I'm using estimates based on raw data from the Mississippi Division of Medicaid.
Mississippi is one of 12 states which still hasn't expanded Medicaid eligibility under the ACA (13 if you include Missouri, whose voters expanded the program last year...but which the state legislature refuses to fund).
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
Kansas is one of 12 states which still hasn't expanded Medicaid eligibility under the ACA (13 if you include Missouri, whose voters expanded the program last year...but which the state legislature refuses to fund).
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In most states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources; unfortunately, Georgia isn't among them, though I've estimated January enrollment based on CMS's just-released Monthly Medicaid & Chip report (which use a slightly different methodology than the MBES reports).
Covered California Sets New Enrollment Record as Thousands Get Lower Premiums From the American Rescue Plan as June Deadline Approaches
A record 1.6 million people are actively enrolled in Covered California, including 139,000 who signed up for quality health care coverage since lower premiums became available through the American Rescue Plan.
Covered California is also launching a provision that allows thousands of eligible Californians, who received unemployment insurance benefits at any point in 2021, to get the best coverage available for as low as $1 per month.
Consumers can use Covered California’s quick calculator to easily find out if they benefit from the new $1 per month provision.
The next deadline for coverage is the end of the month: Consumers who enroll by June 30 will be insured starting July 1.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In most states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
Florida is one of 12 states which still hasn't expanded Medicaid eligibility under the ACA (13 if you include Missouri, whose voters expanded the program last year...but which the state legislature refuses to fund).
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Latest Challenge to the Affordable Care Act and Preserves the Landmark Health Care Law for a Third Time
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Covered California Executive Director Peter V. Lee applauded today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision to dismiss challenges to the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act leaving the law intact to the benefit of millions of Americans.
“The Supreme Court – in rejecting claims challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act – has once again upheld the law that is helping millions of Americans benefit every day from health care coverage and broad consumer protections. It is time to move on, focus on improving the law and reach true universal coverage.
The American Rescue Plan provides new and expanded financial help that dramatically lowers health insurance premiums for people who purchase health insurance through Covered California.
More than 45,000 people in the Monterey and Salinas regions — including the uninsured and people currently enrolled directly through a health insurance carrier — stand to benefit from the new financial help that is now available.
In order to maximize their savings, consumers need to enroll by June 30 so they can begin saving and benefiting from the new law on July 1.
Many people will be able to get a high-quality plan for as little as $1 per month, and currently insured consumers could save hundreds of dollars per month on their coverage if they switch to Covered California.
So, are there any MORE challenges to the ACA? Of course. As Katie Keith notes over at Health Affairs:
As the law hangs in the balance, other ACA litigation is proceeding. The Supreme Court has been asked to hear appeals by health insurers over whether they are entitled to fully recover unpaid cost-sharing reduction payments. It is not year clear whether the Court will agree to do so; if it does, the appeals would be heard next term. Other lawsuits remain pending before district and appellate courts over the scope of the ACA’s contraceptive mandate, the preventive services mandate, and Section 1557, among other issues.
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds the Affordable Care Act
Coverage protections, financial help and many other programs continue as part of law that has helped millions of Coloradans
Today, the United States Supreme Court announced its 7-2 decision in California v. Texas, No. 19-840, to uphold the Affordable Care Act (ACA), now covering 31 million Americans.
“We are pleased with the Court’s decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act. This is welcome news to more than 500,000 Coloradans who have gained access to quality health care coverage through Medicaid expansion,” said Kim Bimestefer, executive director of the Department of Health Care Policy & Financing. “This coverage expansion is more important than ever, given the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn, which has caused many Coloradans to lose their jobs and with that their employer-sponsored health insurance coverage.”
(BALTIMORE) — Michele Eberle, executive director of Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, issues the following statement:
As we celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the creation of the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange this month, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the Affordable Care Act remains the law of the land. This is great news for all Marylanders, including more than 1 million of our neighbors, friends and family covered through Maryland Health Connection. They will continue to have access to quality health insurance plans and financial help for those who qualify. Maryland Health Connection remains open for business and we encourage anyone in need of health insurance to check out their options today. There are new, bigger savings this year. Now more than ever, it’s worth taking a look.
ST. PAUL, Minn.—Nate Clark, Chief Executive Officer of MNsure; Grace Arnold, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Commerce; Jodi Harpstead, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services; and Jan Malcolm, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Health issue the following statement:
“Today, the United States Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the Affordable Care Act. This is a huge relief for the hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans who get health care coverage through the law - whether from Medicaid or MinnesotaCare, or if they purchase health insurance through MNsure.
“This year, because of actions by President Biden and Congress, more Minnesotans than ever will qualify for financial help that makes their health coverage more affordable when they seek a plan through MNsure.
From: Heather Korbulic, Executive Director, Silver State Health Insurance Exchange
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a challenge from 18 states to the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—a decision that keeps the law intact and saves health care coverage for hundreds of thousands of Nevadans. For more than a decade, the ACA has helped Nevadans secure coverage, whether it is through the expansion of Medicaid, subsidies on the Exchange, or consumer protections built into the law.
The urgent need for comprehensive and affordable health care coverage has only increased throughout the pandemic and both Nevada Medicaid and the Nevada Health Link, the online health insurance marketplace operated by the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange, have been there to support Nevadans throughout this crisis and will be there as the state recovers. This is an important day for our country and an important win for Nevadans.
Millions of New Yorkers have embraced the health care expansion provided by the Affordable Care Act and I applaud today's decision by the Supreme Court to uphold the ACA. New York State has codified critical consumer protections from the Affordable Care Act into State law; including preexisting conditions, prohibition on annual and lifetime dollar limits, the guarantee of quality essential health benefits and the ability to keep children on their parent's plans through age 26.
NY State of Health has provided seamless access to affordable coverage and remains open for enrollment through the end of the year. The ACA has been a lifeline for many New Yorkers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and I encourage all uninsured New Yorkers to enroll today.
Today, Pam MacEwan, CEO of the Washington Health Benefit Exchange, issued the following statement regarding the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) upholding the Affordable Care Act (ACA):
“The Exchange is relieved to see the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act. Over 860,000 Washingtonians receive health care coverage through the ACA. The ACA is here to stay.
“Today Washington residents continue to benefit from the consumer protections that have been incorporated into both federal and state law which includes protections from annual and lifetime caps, excessive waiting periods, pre-existing condition exclusions, and discrimination based on gender, race, national origin or disability.
“The American Rescue Plan Act expanded the ACA allowing Washingtonians to save on the cost of their individual health insurance. The new act now makes it easier to get covered and stay covered, with the opportunity to take advantage of savings by signing up or switching plans by August 15, 2021.
TRENTON – New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance Commissioner Marlene Caride issued the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court decision today upholding the Affordable Care Act by a 7-2 vote:
“Today’s Supreme Court decision is a victory for millions of Americans and New Jerseyans who have access to quality, affordable health insurance as a result of the Affordable Care Act.
“Under Governor Murphy’s leadership, New Jersey has led the way in increasing access to health insurance based on the guiding principle that health care is a fundamental right. New Jersey launched its own state-based health insurance exchange, Get Covered New Jersey, and provided state-level subsidies to increase access and affordability of health coverage and care for our residents, and enrollment increased by nearly 10 percent during our first Open Enrollment Period. Nearly 40,000 residents have signed up for health insurance during the Special Enrollment Period opened by the state on February 1 in response to COVID-19.
Shortly after this morning's Supreme Court ruling upholding the ACA and dismissing the infamous Texas Fold'em lawsuit over a lack of standing by the plaintiffs, I joined John Aravosis and Cliff Schecter on the UnPresidented Podcast to discuss the case, the ruling and what it may mean going forward:
In late-breaking news, the Supreme Court this morning threw out a challenge to the Affordable Care Act (ACA, aka Obamacare) that many observers thought would lead to the the entire law being struck down as unconstitutional, costing 31 million Americans, myself included, their health insurance. Instead, the court threw out the lawsuit! We invited back ACA expert Charles Gaba to walk us through what happened, and what it means for the ACA going forward. The second half of the show we get into the other issues of the day.
Bottom Line: The case was basically thrown out for lack of standing, in a 7-2 decision, with Justice Breyer delivering the opinion of the court, joined by Justices Sotomayor and Kagan (of course), but also Justices Roberts, Kavanaugh, Barrett and Thomas!
Justice Alito and Gorsuch dissented.
From the opinion itself:
Held: Plaintiffs do not have standing to challenge §5000A(a)’s minimum essential coverage provision because they have not shown a past or future injury fairly traceable to defendants’ conduct enforcing the specific statutory provision they attack as unconstitutional. Pp. 4–16.
The American Rescue Plan provides new and expanded financial help that dramatically lowers health insurance premiums for people who purchase health insurance through Covered California.
More than 52,000 people in the Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo regions — including the uninsured and people currently enrolled directly through a health insurance carrier — stand to benefit from the new financial help that is now available.
In order to maximize their savings, consumers need to enroll by June 30 so they can begin saving and benefiting from the new law on July 1.
Many people will be able to get a high-quality plan for as little as $1 per month, and currently insured consumers could save hundreds of dollars per month on their coverage if they switch to Covered California.
On top of yesterday's confirmation by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid that over 1.24 million Americans have enrolled in ACA coverage via HealthCare.Gov so far during the ongoing Special Enrollment Period, I've also just been informed that Pennsylvania (one of the 15 states operating their own ACA exchange) has enrolled nearly 39,000 people during their SEP since 2/15 as well:
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In most states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
2021 Marketplace Special Enrollment Period Report: February 15 – May 31, 2021
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reports that over 1.2 million Americans have signed up for health insurance through HealthCare.gov since February 15, the start of the 2021 Marketplace Special Enrollment Period (SEP) opportunity, through May 31, with 376,000 consumers signing up for health insurance in the month of May.[1]
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In most states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In most states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In most states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources, but Vermont isn't among them.
Vermont is one of only two states (the other is Massachusetts) where everyone enrolled in Medicaid via ACA expansion was already previously eligible before the law passed via state programs or federal waivers. However, those programs (and funding) have presumably long since been discontinued, so if the ACA is struck down, those enrollees would be in the same boat as those enabled specifically due to the ACA unless funding was immediately restored.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In most states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources. Unfortunately, Rhode Island is among the few states where I haven't been able to get ahold of post-2020 data yet, even estimates.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In most states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources. Unfortunately, Rhode Island is among the few states where I haven't been able to get ahold of post-2020 data yet, even estimates.
Rhode Island's total Medicaid enrollment (including ACA expansion) reached an all-time high of around 313,000 back in mid-2017. Since then it gradually dropped to around 290,000 just ahead of the COVID pandemic...but since then non-expansion enrollment has gone up by 7% and the ACA expansion population has risen by over 30%, meaning total enrollment is up 12% overall.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In most states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
Pennsylvania didn't launch ACA expansion until 2015. Once it ramped up, total enrollment (both ACA & non-ACA) hovered around the 2.8 - 2.9 million range until COVID hit. Since then, non-ACA Medicaid has gone up by 9.8%; the expansion population has grown by 29.8%; and overall enrollment is up 15.2%.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In most states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
For Oregon, I'm relying on raw data from the Oregon Health Authority for January 2021 and later.
Total Medicaid enrollment in Oregon (including ACA expansion peaked at a little over 1.1 million back in 2015, but dropped off to around 950,000 for a couple of years before COVID hit the country. Since then, non-ACA enrollment has gone up about 14%, ACA expansion has increased by over 30% and overall enrollment is 22% higher than it was in February 2020.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In most states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
For Ohio, I'm relying on raw data from the Ohio Dept. of Medicaid for January 2021 and later.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In most states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources. Unfortunately, I've been unable to do so for North Dakota, so the data below is still six months out of date.
Total Medicaid enrollment in North Dakota stayed fairly steady from 2016 - early 2020...but after the COVID pandemic hit, it jumped significantly, with non-ACA enrollment increasing 21.4%, ACA expansion going up 18.3% and total enrollment increasing by 20.7% overall.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
Today I'm presenting New York.
For enrollment data from January 2021 on, I'm relying on adjusted estimates based on raw data from the New York Health Dept.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
Today I'm presenting New Mexico.
For enrollment data from January 2021 on, I'm relying on adjusted estimates based on raw data from the New Mexico Dept. of Health.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
Today I'm presenting New Jersey.
For enrollment data from January 2021 on, I'm relying on adjusted estimates based on raw data from the New Jersey Dept. of Human Services.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
ACA expansion in Montana didn't launch until 2016. It gradually ramped up over the next year or two and peaked at around 260,000 in 2018 before gradually dropping off to around 240,000 in early 2020...right before the COVID pandemic hit.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
Total Medicaid enrollment in Maryland (including expansion) hovered around 1.2 million for a few years prior to the COVID pandemic hitting last February. Since then, enrollment in non-ACA Medicaid has increased 9.6% while ACA expansion enrollment has gone up by 20%, for an overall increase of 12.2% statewide.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
ACA Medicaid expansion didn't go into effect until 2019 (it was supposed to be implemented earlier but that was blocked by the then-GOP Governor), but since then total enrollment (including expansion) has gradually climbed as the expansion program ramped up.
Back on May 11th, I noted that total enrollment in healthcare policies either specifically created by (or expanded to more people by) the Affordable Care Act had likely broken 30 million Americans...an all-time high for the healthcare reform law signed by President Obama 11 years ago.
Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a new report that shows 31 million Americans have health coverage through the Affordable Care Act – a record. The report also shows that there have been reductions in uninsurance rates in every state in the country since the law’s coverage expansions took effect. People served by the health Marketplaces and Medicaid expansion have reached record highs.
The American Rescue Plan provides new and expanded financial help that dramatically lowers health insurance premiums for people who purchase health insurance through Covered California.
More than 32,000 people in the Chico and Redding region – including the uninsured and people currently enrolled directly through a health insurance carrier – stand to benefit from the new financial help that is now available.
In order to maximize their savings, consumers need to enroll by June 30 so they can begin saving and benefiting from the new law on July 1.
Many people will be able to get a high-quality plan for as little as $1 per month, and currently insured consumers could save hundreds of dollars per month on their coverage if they switch to Covered California.
Get Covered This Summer: More Minnesotans Are Seeing Cost Savings Through MNsure
ST. PAUL, Minn.—For the first time, Minnesotans with higher incomes who purchase health insurance through MNsure can access advanced premium tax credits that lower the cost of monthly health insurance premiums. MNsure is encouraging Minnesotans whose incomes were previously too high for tax credits to take another look at private health care coverage through MNsure.
So far, over 9,600 Minnesotans have enrolled through MNsure’s special enrollment period, which began on February 16 and ends on July 16. The special enrollment period is open to those who are uninsured or insured through a plan outside of MNsure. Private plans from BlueCross BlueShield, HealthPartners, Medica, Quartz and UCare are available.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
Today I'm presenting Louisiana. For enrollment data from January 2021 on, I'm relying on adjusted estimates based on raw data from the Louisiana Health Dept.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
Today I'm presenting The Big One: California. For enrollment data from January 2021 on, I'm relying on adjusted estimates based on raw data from the CA Dept. of Health Care Services. I actually ran the numbers for California a month ago, but the MBES data has been updated and I've started breaking out expansion enrollment between "previously eligible" and "newly eligible" with a different graph format, so I decided to re-do CA as well.
Connect for Health Colorado Hits Historic Enrollment Milestone for 2021 Plan Year
Thousands More Coloradans Have Health Coverage Thanks to Extended Enrollment Window and New, Federal Law
DENVER – As of Monday, June 7, 200,119 Coloradans have signed up for a plan that provides coverage this year through Connect for Health Colorado, the state’s official health insurance marketplace. That is a historic number of enrollments in a plan year for Connect for Health Colorado since opening for business in 2013.
Just over 20,000 of this year’s enrollments occurred since Connect for Health Colorado re-opened enrollment in Feb. 2021, and half of those sign ups occurred since the organization began offering expanded subsidies under a new, federal law in April 2021.
The American Rescue Plan provides new and expanded financial help that dramatically lowers health insurance premiums for people who purchase health insurance through Covered California.
More than 11,000 people in the Eureka region – including the uninsured and people currently enrolled directly through a health insurance carrier – stand to benefit from the new financial help that is now available.
In order to maximize their savings, consumers need to enroll by June 30 so they can begin saving and benefiting from the new law on July 1.
Many people will be able to get a high-quality plan for as little as $1 per month, and currently insured consumers could save hundreds of dollars per month on their coverage if they switch to Covered California.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
Connecticut total Medicaid enrollment (including ACA expansion) hovered between 900K - 1.0 million prior to the COVID pandemic hiatting last February/March.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
Colorado total Medicaid enrollment (including ACA expansion) reached a high of around 1.38 million people in early 2017 before gradually dropping off to 1.2 million just before the COVID pandemic hit last spring.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
Arizona total Medicaid enrollment hovered around 1.1 million people (including ACA expansion) for several years until the COVID pandemic hit last spring.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
Minnesota total Medicaid enrollment hovered around 1.1 million people (including ACA expansion) for several years until the COVID pandemic hit last spring.
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.
Important:
Every county except those in Alaska lists the 2020 Biden/Trump partisan lean; Alaska still uses the 2016 Clinton/Trump results (the 2020 Alaska results are only available by state legislative district, not by county/borough for some reason...if anyone has that info let me know.)
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 328 million total (50 states + DC), or roughly 10.2% of the U.S. population.
With those caveats in mind, here's the top 100 counties ranked by per capita COVID-19 cases as of Saturday, June 5th, 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 (Biden or Trump won by less than 6 points)
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
Moments ago I posted the news that the HHS Dept. (via the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid) has confirmed what I wrote about nearly a month ago: Enrollment in ACA healthcare policies are at an all-time high, with over 31 million Americans currently covered by either ACA exchange plans, ACA Medicaid expansion or ACA Basic Health Plan coverage.
Health Coverage Under the Affordable Care Act: Enrollment Trends and State Estimates
Based on enrollment data from late 2020 and early 2021, approximately 31 million people were enrolled in Marketplace or Medicaid expansion coverage related to provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the highest total on record.
#ACA Enrollment Is At An All-Time High Right Now Almost Any Way You Slice It.
I based this on a rough comparison of ACA enrollment in 2016 (which saw the highest ACA Open Enrollment Period enrollment to date, with nearly 12.7 million people selecting Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) during the official OEP) versus the most recent data available as of spring 2021.
My rough math was as follows (spring 2016 / spring 2021):
HOWEVER...nearly 20,000 Americans are still testing positive for COVID-19 every day, and 400 are still dying of it every day.
If you're not vaccinated, GET VACCINATED AND KEEP WEARING A MASK UNTIL 2 WEEKS AFTER YOUR SECOND SHOT.
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.
NOTE: I've recently updated the spreadsheet to account for the official 2020 Census Bureau populations of every state. In most cases this has nudged their case & mortality rates down slightly.
Nearly 1 out of every 7 residents of North Dakota, South Dakota and Rhode Island have tested positive for COVID-19 to date.
More than 1 out of every 8 residents of Iowa.
More than 1 out of every 9 residents of Tennessee, Utah, Arizona, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Arkansas and Wisconsin.
More than 1 out of 10 in New Jersey, Indiana, Delaware, Alabama, Illinois, Florida, Mississippi, Kansas, New York, Minnesota, Georgia, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana,Texas, Kentucky, Louisiana and Massachusetts.
More than 1 out of 20 in every state & territory EXCEPT Guam, Maine, Oregon, Vermont, U.S. Virgin Islands, Hawaii, N. Mariana Islands & American Samoa.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
Today I'm presenting Idaho, which only actually implemented Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act starting in January 2020...and thank God they did, because less than 2 months later everything hit the fan when the COVID pandemic hit the U.S., hard. In Idaho's case I've gotten data through April directly via the Idaho Dept. of Heath & Welfare.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
For the various enrollment data, I'm using data from Medicaid.gov's Medicaid Enrollment Data Collected Through MBES reports. Unfortunately, they've only published enrollment data through December 2020. In some states I've been able to get more recent enrollment data from state websites and other sources.
Press Release: Governor Cuomo Announces Enrollment through NY State of Health Tops 6 Million
State Marketplace Reaches Record-Breaking Levels
American Rescue Plan Offers Significantly More Financial Assistance for Consumers
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that New York State of Health - the state's official health plan Marketplace - has reached a record-breaking enrollment total of 6 million New Yorkers who have signed up for health insurance through the Marketplace across Medicaid, Essential Plan, Child Health Plus and Qualified Health Plans. This momentous milestone coincides with the new and increased financial assistance now available to New Yorkers through the American Rescue Plan for consumers enrolling in commercial coverage.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan. Here's California, and it's pretty eye-opening.
The vaccination levels for each state below are based on taking the total number of COVID-19 doses administered to date according to the Centers for Disease Control), then and dividing that into double the state population (since each person needs two doses to be fully vaccinated) as of April 2020 according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
I then adjust each state by counting the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine twice (since it's effectively similar to getting 2 Pfizer or Moderna doses).
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
NOTE: The CDC lists ~279,000 West Virginia residents (a whopping 84.4% of the total fully vaccinated)whose county of residence is unknown, which would make the graphs below unusable. Fortunately, the COVID Act Now database appears to have acquired the actual county-level data directly from the West Virginia Health Dept, so I'm using their data instead for WV.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
UPDATE: As I figured, the original data was massivly wrong. Just as one simple example, Virginia's own data set puts Danville's vaccination rate at around 35.5% vs. the 0.1% according to the CDC data.
The following states have ≤80% completeness reporting vaccinations by county, which may result in underestimates of vaccination data for counties and CBSAs: VT (74%), CO (73%), WV (54%), VA (51%), GA (50%), HI (0%), AS (0%), TX (0%), PW (0%), FM (0%), MH (0%), MP (0%)
I'm not doing the U.S. territories anyway, and I gathered the data for Hawaii and Texas straight from the state health departments. Sounds like I'll have to do the same for Virginia if possible. I'll also have to go back and re-do Colorado, Georgia and Vermont, though there was at least some clear pattern in those states (Vermont has few enough counties that it'd be hard to see one anyway). I haven't gotten to West Virginia yet.
I'll leave this post up for the moment but will take it down this evening until I've corrected the data.
UPDATE 6/02/21 9:11pm: OK, I'm using the data from the COVID Act Now project instead, which appears to be pulling their data directly from the Virginia Health Dept's website. Oddly, they don't list any numbers for Manassas City and Manassas Park, so I've pulled it directly from the VA COVID Vaccine Tracker myself.
I've swapped out both the graphs and the county/city table with the corrected versions below.
There still doesn't appear to be much of a partisan lean correlation in Virginia--it's more apparent in the "bubble view" which sizes the dots by population--but at least the numbers are accurate and make sense now, which is the main point.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
NOTE: The CDC lists ~1.895 million Virginia residents (9.6% of the total fully vaccinated)whose county of residence is unknown. In addition, there are 9 counties which don't list any vaccination data at all. Both of these could skew the trendline significantly.
Even with those factors accounted for, the Virginia graphs below are still massively out of whack with almost every other state. I don't mean because the trendline tilts slightly upwards towards the right side--New Jersey does that as well--I mean because there's massive ranges in vaccination rates across the board regardless of partisan lean, relative county population, etc. Even New Jersey still seems to form some sort of coherent pattern.
I don't know if this is a data error or what. Will update if I find out more.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
WARNING: The CDC lists ~67,000 South Dakota residents (a whopping 21.8% of the total fully vaccinated)whose county of residence is unknown; this could impact the trendline significantly.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
WARNING: The CDC lists ~199,000 New Mexico residents (a whopping 25% of the total fully vaccinated) whose county of residence is unknown. This could easily skew the actual results below one way or the other.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
Note: The CDC lists ~323,000 New Jersey residents (8.1% of the total fully vaccinated) whose county of residence is unknown.
Huh. I'll have to double-check, but I believe New Jersey is the first state out of the 30 I've generated graphs for so far where the vaccination rate isn't higher in the more blue-leaning counties than the red-leaning ones. Of course, it's only an extremely slight tilt, and this is a blue state so even in the reddest county (Ocean), Trump still only received 63.5% of the vote, but it's still worth noting. NJ also has an unusually high percentage of vaccinated residents whose county of residence is unknown (over 8% of the total) which could be a factor as well.
New Jersey also happens to be the U.S. state with the highest cumulative COVID-19 death toll. I have no idea if that has anything to do with anything, but figured I should throw it out there.
The Israel/Palestine situation is, as folks know, an ugly mess. Like so many other American Jews, I'm horrified by the draconian actions of the Netanyahu Administration in Israel. Emotions are high and the rise of both Islamophobia and Antisemitism here in the United States sure as hell doesn't help matters.
Last night I posted something on Twitter which was simultaneously incredibly stupid and potentially harmful to someone's career (it turns out it won't be, but I didn't know that at the time). Then I made things worse by inadvertently blocking the same person (I didn't realize I had done so until someone ripped on me for doing so); I immediately unblocked them and apologized for that...as well as apologizing profusely and repeatedly for the original screwup...but...yeah, too late.
It was one of those things where the more you try to explain/apologize the worse you make things.
I don't know whether the subject of my original tweet has accepted my apology or not as of yet (they haven't responded to it one way or the other as of this writing). I do know that at least a couple of people who I respect quite a bit have either rightly slammed me or, in at least one case, outright blocked me.
As you might imagine, I was also dogpiled by a bunch of people tearing me apart over both the original (since deleted) tweet, the block, and the rest of it.
Anyway, I screwed up royally, then compounded the screwup, and feel like crap at the moment, as I should.
