Covered California Logo

via Covered California:

La versión en español de este Comunicado puede ser descargada en este enlace.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Covered California hit the streets of downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, to paint the town and encourage the uninsured to sign up for health insurance coverage. In a partnership with a diverse collaborative of local and California-based artists, Covered California unveiled a large-scale street art piece at the historic Grand Central Market to remind Californians that they have through Jan. 31 to sign up for comprehensive health care coverage.

“We are here to spread the word across Los Angeles and the rest of the state that time is running out to sign up for quality health insurance through Covered California,” said Jessica Altman, executive director of Covered California. “Visit CoveredCA.com today, find out how much financial help you can receive, and how affordable coverage can be for you and your family.”

Open Enrollment Runs Through Jan. 31

Nevada Health Link Logo

via Nevada Health Link:

Nevada Health Link Enrolled 96,379 Nevadans in Health Insurance During Open Enrollment

(CARSON CITY, NV) – Nevada Health Link is excited to announce that 96,379 Nevadans have enrolled in qualified, affordable health insurance plans during this year’s Open Enrollment Period (OEP), which ran from November 1, 2022 through January 15, 2023.

Of the over 96,000 Nevadans who enrolled in health insurance plans through NevadaHealthLink.com, 18,117 were new enrollees, meaning they were not previously enrolled in a plan on the marketplace.

“We are thrilled that thousands of Nevadans have taken advantage of their health and financial protection by enrolling in health plans this Open Enrollment,” said Ryan High, Executive Director of Nevada Health Link. “Our top priority is ensuring Nevadans are protected and have access to quality coverage and health care.”

BeWellNM Logo

via BeWell NM, New Mexico's ACA exchange:

2023 Open Enrollment Report

This report provides a summary of information for week one of the beWellnm health insurance individual Marketplace Open Enrollment Period for plan year 2023 (OEP 2023). The report contains data from the beWellnm eligibility and enrollment platform for OEP 2023, and includes an overview of the following:

  • plan selections
  • new enrollees
  • enrollees renewing coverage
  • Customer Engagement Center call volumes
  • website traffic

Enrollment

This section contains enrollment data through January 15, 2022.

1. Total Plan Selections (net): Count of unique individuals who have selected a Plan Year (PY) 2023 Marketplace medical plan. Count includes all new and re-enrolling consumers (defined in Indicators 2 and 3), regardless of whether the consumer has paid the first month premium. Count does not include plans that were canceled or terminated.: 40,689

Connect for Health Colorado Logo

via the Colorado Dept. of Regulatory Agencies (h/t Christine Monahan for the heads up):

Approximately 35,000 Coloradans Chose the Colorado Option During the 2023 Open Enrollment

  • Insurance Commissioner Conway: “We’re working on making this program even better.”

DENVER - As announced by the Governor during his State of the State speech, the preliminary 2023 open enrollment figures for the Colorado Option make it clear that the Coloradans are excited and want the Colorado Option. 

As of January 10th, approximately 35,000 people have enrolled in Colorado Option plans - approximately 25,000 through Connect for Health Colorado, the state’s health insurance marketplace, and another 10,000 via OmniSalud. 

As I noted earlier this week, there's been a lot of renewed buzz recently about an article at Vice Media regarding the partisan divide in COVID death rates over the past couple of years.

I admit to not really understanding why the Vice story is making the rounds this week in particular. The article is from mid-November, and the study by researchers at the National Bureau of Economic Research which it references was first published in early October...in fact I wrote about it at the time.

The other thing which caught my eye recently is this viral tweet:

Every 10 days, more that 8,000 unvaccinated Republican voters are dying of COVID-19, five times the rate for Democrats, who have had at least 2 vaccination shots.

MNsure Logo

via MNsure, Minnesota's ACA exchange:

  • Eligible MNsure enrollees will save an average of $6,220 this year

ST. PAUL, Minn.—During MNsure’s recent open enrollment period, 129,537 Minnesotans signed up for comprehensive health coverage for 2023. MNsure’s tenth open enrollment period ran from November 1, 2022, through January 15, 2023, and was one of the most successful to date for the state’s health insurance marketplace.

“This year nearly 130,000 Minnesotans will have important financial protections and the peace of mind that comes with being enrolled in comprehensive health coverage available through MNsure,” said MNsure CEO Nate Clark. “MNsure’s tenth open enrollment period was a great success for the organization and the Minnesotans we serve. We helped nearly 60% of enrollees access financial help that will lower their health care costs by an average $6,220.”

Get Covered NJ Logo

via the New Jersey Dept. of Banking & Insurance:

Residents Urged to Sign up for Health Coverage as Get Covered New Jersey Open Enrollment Deadline Nears 

  • Total signups over 321K as residents continue to benefit from record savings; Two weeks left to enroll 

TRENTON – New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance Commissioner Marlene Caride today announced that more than 321,000 New Jersey residents signed up for a 2023 health insurance plan through the state’s official health insurance marketplace, Get Covered New Jersey, in the first nine weeks of the Open Enrollment Period that started on November 1, 2022.  

With just two weeks left in the Open Enrollment Period, Commissioner Caride urged residents in need of health coverage to review their options and sign up today. Open Enrollment for 2023 health insurance ends January 31st, 2023 in New Jersey. 

Washington HealthPlan Finder

via Washington HealthPlanFinder:

Washingtonians who qualify for Cascade Care Savings can still sign up and save

The wait is over — Cascade Care Savings is here! Open enrollment may have ended but that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck if you haven’t purchased a plan. A new special enrollment period is available to individuals and families who make up to 250% of the federal poverty level.

“Cascade Care Savings has opened the door for thousands of Washingtonians to secure high-quality health insurance at any time of the year,” Washington Health Benefit Exchange (Exchange) interim CEO Jim Crawford said. “This special enrollment period is available monthly to those who qualify for Cascade Care Savings who are not already in an eligible plan.”

Access Health CT Logo

Via Access Health CT's News/Press Releases page:

Stats as of January 16, 2023

Qualified Health Plans (QHP):

  • QHP Enrollment In 2023 Coverage: 108,110
  • 2022 OE Acquisition Summary: 19,672

Medicaid:

  • Completed applications/ redeterminations processed through the integrated eligibility system: 25,972

The 108,110 figure may change slightly when the official Open Enrollment Period (OEP) report is released due to last-minute data corrections, but assuming this is the final figure, it means Connecticut's OEP Qualified Health Plan (QHP) enrollment is down just over 4% year over year, from 112,633 during the 2022 OEP. As I noted last week, this is part of a strange trend for 2023: While Medicaid expansion states on the federal exchange are up ~10% vs. last year, most state-based marketplaces (SBMs), including Connecticut, are down somewhat this year.

(sigh) Last month I posted what I assumed would be my final update of the red/blue and vaccination-level COVID death rate breakouts, but apparently that wasn't meant to be. For one thing, the latest variant, XBB.1.5 (some are calling it "Kraken" but I don't think that's anything official) has reared its head in the northeast. For another, there's been a renewed interest (at least on Twitter, anyway) in an article at Vice Media about the topic.

I'll be posting a second entry addressing that article, the study it cites, and some misinformation about the red/blue divide later this week, but first, let's take a look at where things stand as of mid-January.

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