(Washington)– The District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) has received 193 proposed health insurance plan rates for annual review in advance of open enrollment for plan year 2025. The proposed rates were submitted for DC Health Link, the District of Columbia’s health insurance marketplace, from CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Kaiser and United Healthcare.
The proposed rates are for individuals, families and small businesses for the 2025 plan year. Overall, the number of plans submitted for 2025 is down by 22 from those submitted for 2024. The number of small group plans decreased from 188 to 166 while the number of individual plans remained at 27.
DC Health Link Open Enrollment Runs Through Next Wednesday, January 31, 2024; Communities Can Attend Free In-Person Enrollment Events
Washington, DC– Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser and DC Health Link are reminding residents that there is one week left to sign up for high-quality, affordable health insurance through DCHealthLink.com, the District’s online state-based health insurance marketplace. Open Enrollment is now open for DC individuals and families and runs through January 31, 2024.
“There is still time to enroll in health insurance before the January 31 deadline. We encourage residents to visit DCHealthLink.com and select a health plan that is right for you and your family,” said Mayor Bowser. “In addition to our online enrollment service, there are a number of outreach events in the coming days where you can get in-person assistance enrolling in high-quality health plans.”
This is about as minor of an enrollment update as it gets, but for what it's worth, the DC Health Benefit Exchange Authority posted this update a couple of weeks ago:
DC HEALTH BENEFIT EXCHANGE AUTHORITY Enrollment Summary
As of January 4th, 2024
INDIVIDUAL ENROLLMENT
Current Enrollment: 14,248
Enrollment 1 Year Ago: 13,941
CHANGE: +307
DC Health Link Open Enrollment Begins Today, Runs Through January 31, 2024; Monthly Premiums Start as Low as $13/Month
Washington, DC–Today, as the 2024 Open Enrollment period begins, Mayor Muriel Bowser and DC Health Link encourage residents to sign up for high-quality, affordable health insurance at DCHealthLink.com, the District’s online state-based health insurance marketplace. Open Enrollment for DC individuals and families begins today, November 1, 2023, and runs through January 31, 2024.
“Making sure everyone in DC has access to comprehensive, affordable health insurance is one of the many ways we are working to keep DC healthy and our residents’ healthcare costs down,” said Mayor Bowser. “Whether you are uninsured and need a policy or are looking for a more affordable way to keep you and your family covered, there is a plan for you at DCHealthLink.com.”
This page contains proposed health plan rate information for the District of Columbia’s health insurance marketplace, DC Health Link, for plan year 2024.
The District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) received 215 proposed health insurance plan rates for review from Aetna, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Kaiser and United Healthcare in advance of open enrollment for plan year 2024 on DC Health Link, the District of Columbia’s health insurance marketplace.
The four insurance companies filed proposed rates for individuals, families and small businesses for the 2024 plan year. Overall, 215 plans were filed, compared to 238 last year. The number of small group plans decreased from 211 to 188, while the number of individual plans remained at 27.
More than 56,000 customers were impacted by the DC Health Link data breach, the DC Health Benefit Exchange Authority revealed Friday.
The data fields compromised were name, Social Security number, birthdate, gender, health plan information, employer information and enrollee information – address, email, phone number, race, ethnicity and citizenship status.
Some 11,000 of the exchange’s more than 100,000 participants work in the House and Senate — in the nation's capital and district offices across the nation — or are relatives.
City leaders to join DC Health Link for whirlwind final weekend of Open Enrollment featuring barbershop outreach, pizza delivery outreach, door-to-door canvassing, and enrollment marathon with unique events at barbershops, Ben's Chili Bowl and all over DC
WHAT/WHO:
Because District residents have only four days left to sign up for health insurance coverage before the Open Enrollment deadline, DC Health Link is crisscrossing the city this weekend to make sure every resident in high uninsured areas of the District has the opportunity to enroll in quality, affordable health insurance. DC Health Link is holding its signature Enrollment Marathon and partnering with local businesses, city leaders, and civic groups to offer District residents FREE one-on-one, and virtual, enrollment help over the weekend at different locations throughout the District. These additional enrollment opportunities will help residents get covered before the Open Enrollment Period ends at midnight January 31, 2023.
Hispanic leaders to discuss overcoming barriers and access to health care and the state of enrollment opportunities at the 8th Annual Hispanic Leadership Health Forum
WHAT:
While recent national studies show the Hispanic community has seen among the biggest drops in uninsured rates thanks to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), those same studies show that Hispanics have the highest uninsured rates of any racial or ethnic group nationwide. In 2020, the US Census reported that 49.9% of Hispanics had private health insurance coverage, as compared to 73.9% for non-Hispanic whites.
A few weeks ago I wrote about a bill pending in the District of Columbia Council, of all legislative bodies, which, had it passed, would have seriously undermined ACA protections for thousands of DC residents with employer-based healthcare coverage, as well as potentially setting precedent for similar bills in other states:
Executive Board votes to cut copays to $5, no deductibles
Washington, DC–The DC Health Benefit Exchange Authority (DCHBX) Executive Board unanimously voted to adopt recommendations based on the work of the DCHBX Standard Plans Working Group to help address health disparities in pediatric mental health treatment. Starting in Plan Year 2024, children covered by a standard plan on DC Health Link will only have a $5 copay, with no deductibles, for outpatient mental health visits, including specialist visits, and no limit on the number of visits. Additionally, this vote reduces prescription copays for child mental health care to $5, with no deductibles.
The action taken by DCHBX means that parents who had copays as high as $45 for their children's mental health visits will only pay $5 starting in 2024. Additionally, parents who were paying as high as $25 in copays for even the lowest-cost generic prescriptions for their children, will have only a $5 copay starting in 2024.
