Biden-Harris Administration Extends Hundreds of Millions of Dollars to New York’s Essential Plan, its Basic Health Program, Key Connection to Coverage Supported by American Rescue Plan
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is providing approximately $750 million in additional funding in 2022 to support the Essential Plan, New York’s Basic Health Program (BHP), as well as added funds for 2020 and 2021. The additional funds, made available through the American Rescue Plan, increase New York’s ability to provide health care coverage to approximately 1 million individuals.
State Receives Marketplace Modernization Grant, Awarded by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Under American Rescue Plan Act
ALBANY, N.Y. (September 17, 2021) – NY State of Health, the state’s official health plan Marketplace, today announced it has been awarded a Marketplace Modernization Grant by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This funding, a total of $1.1 million dollars, the maximum awarded to state-based marketplaces, has been made available by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 for the purpose of modernizing or updating state technology systems and/or conducting targeted consumer outreach activities that can improve access to health coverage for consumers.
NY State of Health Enrollment Continues to Surge as More New Yorkers Sign Up for Low-Cost Coverage Following the American Rescue Plan and Enhancements Made to New York’s Essential Plan
Press Release: NY State of Health Enrollment Continues to Climb, More New Yorkers than Ever Benefitting from Affordable Health Coverage; New Yorkers Save Money on Health Coverage with American Rescue Plan Enhanced Tax Credits
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.
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.
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.
It's been awhile since I've written anything about the ACA's Basic Health Plan (BHP) provision. BHP is a program which every state has the option of taking advantage of, but so far only two have: Minnesota and New York State. I'll let Louise Norris explain:
Under the ACA, most states have expanded Medicaid to people with income up to 138 percent of the poverty level. But people with incomes very close to the Medicaid eligibility cutoff frequently experience changes in income that result in switching from Medicaid to ACA’s qualified health plans (QHPs) and back. This “churning” creates fluctuating healthcare costs and premiums, and increased administrative work for the insureds, the QHP carriers and Medicaid programs.
