In April 2023, 94,151,768 individuals were enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP.
87,062,629 individuals were enrolled in Medicaid in April 2023, an increase of 348,055 individuals from March 2023.
7,089,139 individuals were enrolled in CHIP in April 2023, a decrease of 73,121 individuals from March 2023.
Since February 2020, enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP has increased by 23,276,699 individuals (32.8%).
Medicaid enrollment has increased by 22,982,836 individuals (35.9%).
CHIP enrollment has increased by 293,863 individuals (4.3%).
Medicaid enrollment likely increased due to the COVID-19 PHE and Medicaid continuous enrollment condition under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which started in March 2020 and ended on March 31, 2023.
Not a whole lot stands out to me other than Cigna apparently dropping out of the states indy market and Humana pulling out of the small group market. Otherwise, neither market has rate changes which seem terribly surprising--they come to a weighted average increase of 4.3% for individual market plans and 6.6% for the small group market.
As always, these are subject to state regulatory review and approval.
The most noteworthy developments below are that in addition to Friday, Oscar and Bright Health Plans all leaving the Colorado market (as documented/reported on several times earlier this year), it looks like Anthem is reducing its offerings on the individual market, while Aetna and Humana both appear to be dropping out of the states small group market.
Update: Correction, apparently I misread that about Anthem; they have the same total number of plans available after all...not sure how I messed that up; apologies. Their Rocky Mountain division is offering off-exchange policies only, abut aren't listed on CO DARA's summary for whatever reason.
In any event, the weighted average increase being requested is 9.8% on the individual market and 10.6% for the small group market.
While numerous other states have already done the same thing (and several more are in the process of doing so as well), Georgia's move to their own enrollment platform was especially noteworthy for two reasons:
First, because it represents as complete 180-degree policy turn from their prior attempts (over the course of several years) to eliminate any formal ACA exchange (federal or state-based) in favor of outsourcing it to private insurance carriers & 3rd-party web brokers.
Each year, the Idaho Department of Insurance posts rate changes of individual and small group health insurance products so consumers can review and provide comments on the proposed increases. Insurance companies submit proposed rates for the upcoming calendar year to the Department, along with descriptions and justifications for why the rates are reasonable and not excessive.
The Department of Insurance is seeking public input for rate changes of individual and small group health insurance products to improve insurer accountability and transparency. By following the links below, the public can access a summary of the increase amounts and the carrier justifications for the rates. Please submit any comments to the Department for consideration.
As for when the program would actually go into effect, however...that's been something of a mystery for awhile now. Apparently the wording of the legislation ties it in with it being included in the general state budget, which hasn't happened yet. As a result, no one seems to be sure whether NC Medicaid expansion will kick off in October, November, December or January of next year.
Nearly Three Quarters of New Yorkers Enrolled in Medicaid, Child Health Plus or the Essential Plan Have Renewed Their Coverage by the June Deadline; Renewal Strategies Are Working; Others Still Have Time to Act
New York Outperforming National Average as Reported by KFF
Monthly Dashboard Tracks Renewal Status, Demographics, and State Program Transitions During Public Health Emergency Unwind
ALBANY, N.Y. (July 18, 2023) – The New York State Department of Health today released the first issue of New York’s Public Health Emergency Unwind Dashboard, a monthly report reflecting data on renewal status, demographics, and program transitions for public health insurance enrollees, which shows renewal outreach strategies are working. The report indicates that roughly 72 percent of New Yorkers enrolled in Medicaid, Child Health Plus or the Essential Plan renewed their coverage before the June deadline to re-enroll and those who haven’t still have time to act to avoid potential lapses in coverage. As reported by KFF, the national renewal rate for states reporting data is 59 percent.
DENVER— Today, the Colorado Division of Insurance (DOI) announced that they have asked the courts to move Friday Health Plans of Colorado into liquidation, which will end coverage for Friday Health Plans customers on August 31, 2023.
Chief Executive Officer of Connect for Health Colorado, Kevin Patterson, released the following statement:
A few weeks ago I noted that, thanks to California Governor Gavin Newsom and the Democratically-controlled state legislature finally reaching a compromise agreement on how to allocate ~$330 million/year in revenue generated by the state's individual mandate penalty, around $83 million will be utilized to dramatically reduce out of pocket expenses for hundreds of thousands of ACA exchange enrollees.
UPDATE: It turns out that this is not a "new" study; it's the final, peer-reviewed version of the same pre-print study from last fall by the same researchers, which makes a lot more sense.
Excess Death Rates for Republican and Democratic Registered Voters in Florida and Ohio During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Jacob Wallace, PhD; Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham, PhD; Jason L. Schwartz, PhD
If this study title and its authors sound vaguely familiar, it's because the same three researchers (from the Yale School of Public Health/Management) published a similar study last fall...which I wrote about at the time:
