Connect for Health Colorado Offers More Savings to More Coloradans on Health Insurance Costs
Many Residents Can Find Coverage for Just A Few Dollars a Month
DENVER – Starting today, Thursday, April 15, Coloradans seeking health insurance can access more savings as a result of the American Rescue Plan (also known as the “COVID relief package”) when they shop through Connect for Health Colorado®. The American Rescue Plan expanded financial help for health insurance plans that people buy via the federal and state health insurance exchanges through 2022. And, for the first time, ever, Colorado individuals and families of all income ranges can qualify for reduced premiums.
“We’re ready and eager to provide these savings to more Coloradans who need relief right away,” said Chief Executive Officer Kevin Patterson. “I encourage those who need coverage to sign up. If you were unable to obtain financial help in the past, now is the time to re-apply. You might be surprised how much you can save.”
Nevada Health Link opened a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) for uninsured Nevadans, starting February 15 through August 15, 2021. The SEP is in accordance with the Executive Order issued by President Biden last month, in response to the ongoing national emergency presented by COVID-19.
Coming soon! Thanks to the recently passed American Rescue Plan, we’ll soon be offering more money to help pay for your coverage. Learn more here.
Covered California Opens the Doors for Millions of Californians to Benefit From Lower Health Care Premiums, Save Money and Stimulate the Economy Through the American Rescue Plan
A couple of weeks ago, I used the limited COVID Special Enrollment Period (SEP) data I had for HealthCare.Gov from the last two weeks of February, plus some limited SEP data from a handful of state-based ACA exchanges, to extrapolate out a rough estimate of how many new Qualified Health Plan (QHP) selections may have happened nationally.
At the time, I estimated that perhaps 18,500 people were enrolling per day nationally the final two weeks of February, and that IF that pace remained the same throughout the entire month of March, it would amount to upwards of 832,000 new people enrolling by the end of March (666,000 via HealthCare.Gov, plus another 166,000 via the 15 state-based exchanges).
It's important to note that this wasn't a hard estimate--I was pretty sure that the actual enrollment pace would slow down somewhat after the inital surge, at least until expanded subsidies via the American Rescue Plan (ARP) were officially available in most states, which didn't happen until April 1st.
More Coloradans Than Ever Are Using Colorado’s Exchange to Get Covered
DENVER — In a report released today by Connect for Health Colorado, nearly 180,000 Coloradans signed up for a health insurance plan by the end of the Open Enrollment Period on Jan. 15 for 2021 coverage. The new report includes more detailed information about changes to premium costs and financial help by county, the improved customer experience and our outreach tactics.
I last updated my Michigan Medicaid expansion tracking back in January.At the time, I noted that enrollment in this ACA programhas increased dramatically here in Michigan since the COVID-19 pandemic struck, increasing from 673,000 in February 2020 to 853,000 as of January 2021, or nearly 27% in less than one year.
As of April 5th, the Healthy Michigan program (that's the branding of Michigan's ACA Medicaid expansion) notes 897,261 enrollees. That's a net increase of 224,000 Michiganders enrolled in the program since last February, or over 33%.
With this as backdrop, consider the timing of the following events:
Obviously a lot has changed since then, primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but I presume this is the most recent comprehensive, reliable data they've been able to compile:
Note:A few weeks ago, I ran a rough back-of-the-envelope extrapolation of partial data from the first 2 weeks of the ongoing COVID Special Enrollment Period and concluded that IF enrollment via the 36 HealthCare.Gov states was representative nationally, and IF the pace of the last 2 weeks of February held perfectly steady, it would mean around 666,000 new enrollees via HC.gov and 832,000 nationally by the end of March. Those were two pretty big caveats, of course, and as you'll see below, the reality wasn't quite as eyebrow-raising, though it's still pretty impressive.
AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT DRAMATICALLY LOWERS HEALTH CARE COSTS FOR MANY MARYLANDERS
Low income individuals and families will pay nearly nothing for private health plans, higher income will be eligible for savings for the first time
(BALTIMORE) — Gov. Larry Hogan and Maryland Health Connection today announced reductions in the health plan costs that reflect additional financial help available through the federal American Rescue Plan Act. The new law means that:
