Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Exchanges Tally Their Enrollments For The First Month Of The Sign-Up Period
Los Angeles Times: New Obamacare Enrollments In California Top 144,000
California's health insurance exchange said 144,178 people have newly enrolled in Obamacare coverage during the first month of sign ups. During the initial rollout of the federal health law, 1.2 million people purchased a private health plan through the Covered California exchange. State officials are trying to hold on to most of those existing policyholders during the renewal process now and add about 500,000 more to finish open enrollment Feb. 15 with 1.7 million consumers. (Terhune, 12/17)
The Sacramento Bee: Board Shake-Up In The Offing At Covered California?
California’s health insurance exchange signed up more than 144,000 people in the first month this year and determined that another 157,000 were eligible for coverage. Another 216,423 enrolled in the state’s healthcare program for low-income residents and 75,000 were determined likely eligible for Medi-Cal, officials said Wednesday. (Cadelago, 12/17)
The Connecticut Mirror: 86,000 In Connecticut Now Signed Up For Obamacare
About 86,000 people are slated to receive private insurance coverage through Connecticut’s health insurance exchange, Access Health CT, as of Jan. 1, acting CEO Jim Wadleigh said Wednesday. Of those, about 66,000 are people who currently have coverage through the exchange and had their policies automatically renewed. The other 19,402 are people signing up for plans through the exchange for the first time. (Levin Becker, 12/17)
The Denver Post: Colorado Health Insurance Exchange Signs Up 136,315 In First Month
Colorado's health insurance exchange reported Wednesday that in the first month of open enrollment for 2015, it signed up 108,077 people for private plans and 27,306 for Medicaid. Despite technical problems that slowed or stopped many would-be consumers, Connect for Health Colorado enrolled 12,600 people on Monday, a single-day record. It was the deadline for those who want their coverage to begin Jan. 1. The exchange reported on Dec. 11 that 24,811 people had signed up for private health plans, with about a third of those as new customers. (Draper, 12/17)
Minnesota Public Radio: MNsure: Nearly 50,000 Signed Up For Jan. 1 Health Coverage
Total enrollment in public and private health plans through MNsure jumped 32 percent between Dec. 13 and Dec. 16, the health plan exchange said Wednesday. The total enrollment figure through Dec. 16 is 49,366, MNsure reported. Of those, 23,797 signed up for commercial plans, 7,681 enrolled in MinnesotaCare, and 17,888 signed up for Medical Assistance through the exchange. (Zdechlik, 12/17)
Minnesota Public Radio: Rate Of Uninsured Adults In Minnesota Falls To Record Low
About 135,000 Minnesota adults ages 18 to 64 years old secured health coverage between 2013 and 2014, a jump that cut the uninsured rate for that group to 6.7 percent. That's the lowest rate of uninsured measured for that population in Minnesota, the state Health Department said Wednesday. (12/17)
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune: MNsure Enrollments Up, But Getting Data To Insurers Troublesome
MNsure reported progress Wednesday on hitting its enrollment goal for 2015, but an insurance industry official said the exchange still isn’t getting workable information to health plans about those who are signing up. (Snowbeck, 12/17)
The Seattle Times: State Health Exchange Withholds Money To Deloitte Over Repeated Problems
Washington state’s health-insurance exchange is withholding payments to its primary technology contractor, Deloitte, as a result of repeated problems with the Washington Healthplanfinder website and the exchange’s payment and accounts systems. While Healthplanfinder — at wahealthplanfinder.org — has been more stable during the current open enrollment period than in the first enrollment last year, glitches continue to plague the site. Officials of the Washington Health Benefit Exchange, which manages the exchange, say many of those problems resulted from errors made by Deloitte. (Marshall, 12/17)
And on the topic of the federal exchange -
The Fiscal TImes: Obamacare Sign-Ups Glitch Free in Year Two
Obamacare’s technical issues seem to have been solved—at least on the sign-up side for Healthcare.gov. The second year of signups is relatively glitch-free on the newly revamped Healthcare.gov. (Ehley, 12/17)
