ICYMI: Governor Murphy and Commissioner Caride Announce Record-Breaking 341K People Signed Up for Health Insurance During Open Enrollment Period
Nearly 40% Increase in Sign-Ups Since the Murphy Administration Assumed Operation of the Health Insurance Exchange
Residents with a Qualifying Life Event or Who Meet Certain Income Levels Still Have Options to Get Covered
TRENTON – Governor Phil Murphy and Department of Banking and Insurance Commissioner Marlene Caride today announced that more than 341,000 New Jerseyans signed up for health coverage through Get Covered New Jersey during the Affordable Care Act Open Enrollment Period – a record high in New Jersey.
Over on Twitter, political commentator Krystal Ball made an interesting claim:
A provision in Obamacare allows residents in areas deemed a public health disaster to be covered by Medicare for life. At the very least, East Palestine residents deserve this universal coverage after being exposed to a known carcinogen. https://t.co/ooPYmJ4Y8b
Dear Governor Whitmer, House Speaker Tate, Senate Majority Leader Brinks, House Health Policy Committee Chair Rogers & Senate Health Policy Chair Hertel:
Five years ago, ahead of the 2018 midterm election, I wrote an open letter to all Michigan Democratic legislative candidates with a healthcare policy wish list. It included 26 ways to Protect, Repair & Strengthen the #ACA at the state level, several of which overlapped with the Democratic caucus's "Michigan Health Care Bill of Rights."
Unfortunately, while Democrats made large gains in Michigan in 2018, we didn't quite flip control of either the state House or Senate; it would take another four years to pull that off. Fortunately, that did happen last November, giving Democrats a trifecta in the House, Senate and Governor's office at the same time for the first time in decades, so it's time for me to compile an updated version of my Michigan healthcare policy wish list.
HealthSherpa continues to be the largest private channel for ACA enrollments in the US, insuring over 5 million people for 2023 and growing more than 50% year over year
In its strongest season yet, HealthSherpa has enrolled more than 5 million people in Plan Year 2023 coverage and enrolled HALF of all new Affordable Care Act enrollees in Federally Facilitated Marketplace (FFM) states during Open Enrollment. HealthSherpa now accounts for 35% of all FFM enrollments and volume grew more than 50% year over year, far outpacing the FFM as a whole which grew only 13% (1).
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how the Georgia state government, which for years has been among the more ACA-hostile GOP states, and which has spent the past several years actively attempting to get out of having any official ACA exchange platform whatsoever, has seemingly done a complete 180 and now supposedly wants to go the other way:
Georgia GOP leaders have proposed a bill that they hope will lead to a state takeover of the health insurance exchange marketplace for Affordable Care Act plans.
...Traditionally a majority of Georgians shop for ACA plans on the federally run marketplace website, healthcare.gov. Eighteen states use their own marketplace website, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The key feature of these sites is they allow shoppers to objectively compare their options for price and coverage.
It’s unclear exactly what the state’s replacement would be.
One of the big public health stories last week was that Johns Hopkins University, which has been operating one of the best COVID-19 tracking projects in the country since the pandemic hit U.S. shores, has announced that they're shutting it down next month:
When the pandemic hit, the federal government struggled to publish snapshots of the virus’ spread.
So, academics and journalists quickly filled the void, creating new tools with near real-time estimates of the unfolding pandemic.
Since January 2020, Johns Hopkins University has operated one of the most prominent resources for tracking covid-19 case counts and deaths across the world.
Tax Season is a Health Coverage Enrollment Opportunity
DENVER— The annual Open Enrollment Period for health insurance ended mid-January, but Coloradans who missed the enrollment deadline could still have a special opportunity to sign up for health coverage as a result of the Tax Time Enrollment Program.
The Tax Time Enrollment Program, which launched last year, provides Coloradans the opportunity to check a box on their state tax return to share their information with Connect for Health Colorado and the state Department of Health Care Policy & Financing for the purpose of obtaining health coverage. Through October 2022, approximately 1,700 people used the Tax Time Enrollment Program to enroll in a health insurance plan through Connect for Health Colorado.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina General Assembly began on Tuesday what could become the final push to expand Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of low-income adults in the state with a House measure that quickly advanced through two committees with bipartisan support.
The bill is generally expected to pass the NC House as soon as today...and a different version of the bill is expected to pass the state Senate as well. The issue is the difference between the two versions:
