Connecticut: @AccessHealthCT SEP enrollment 3.3x higher than pre-COVID average thru 4/15

Another quick Connecticut update...I've received the following Special Enrollment Period (SEP) QHP selection numbers for the past three years, and they're pretty telling:

SEP Enrollment for the 2/15 – 4/15 Timeframe:

• 2019 - 1,817
• 2020 - 4,250
• 2021 - 5,890

That averages out to:

• 2019: 30/day
• 2020: 70/day (2020 was a leap year)
• 2021: 98/day

2020 isn't really a good comparison year, since COVID had already started ravaging the U.S. by mid-March and Connecticut also launched a COVID SEP from March 18th - April 17th last year as well. The spring of 2019, however, didn't have anything special going on, so that's a perfect pre-COVID comparison year: The 2021 COVID SEP racked up 3.26x as many new enrollees as you'd typically expect to during the off-season for the same time period.

It'll be interesting to see what happens after May 1st, when Access Health CT brings the expanded American Rescue Plan subsidies live and relaunches a new SEP for that. On the one hand, ACA plans just became dramatically more affordable for far more people. On the other hand, we're already 1/3 of the way into the year, which means new enrollees will be starting out with the full deductibles out of the gate. It'll still be a hell of a good deal for the vast majority of people, however.