COVID SEP CONCLUDES SUNDAY
Throughout the summer, we are publishing the NDNRC Update on a biweekly basis.
There are just over two days left for people to enroll in health insurance through the use of the COVID Special Enrollment Period (SEP) as the SEP ends on Sunday, August 15. If people want to learn about their health insurance options through the COVID SEP, they should visit healthcare.gov.
In an effort to highlight the COVID SEP, AAHD has a project with Community Catalyst in conducting outreach to educate individuals about health insurance enrollment through the ACA Marketplace and Medicaid. This outreach includes graphics like the one above which highlight the deadline for the COVID SEP. These graphics are available in the Community Catalyst Outreach Hub. You can also check out the social media toolkit Community Catalyst created for the COVID SEP.
This week, CMS released the latest enrollment data for the COVID SEP. According to CMS, over 2.5 million Americans have signed up for coverage during the COVID SEP through the end of July. To learn more about the report or for links to the CMS press release and fact sheet, check out our news item.
One of the things driving the enrollment numbers during the COVID SEP is the enhanced premium tax credits that are available to consumers as a result of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Last week, CMS released a state-by-state breakdown of how the enhanced subsidies are providing savings to consumers throughout the country. To learn more about the savings or for a link to the CMS fact sheet, check out our news item.
To receive the enhanced premium tax credits, consumers need to go to healthcare.gov to have a redetermination made for their subsidy amount. However, CMS will begin doing automatic redeterminations for many consumers starting on September 1 if they have not done so already. To learn more about this, check out the FAQ sheet from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
For more information about the COVID SEP and Medicaid expansion, you can check out some of our other NDNRC posts from the past few months, including last month’s blog post on what the COVID SEP means for people with disabilities.
- Blog post (7/28/21): What the COVID SEP Means for People with Disabilities
- Blog post (6/2/21): Benefits of Medicaid Expansion
- Blog post (updated 5/20/21): States Extend COVID SEP
- Blog post (2/19/21): How is the COVID SEP Different?
- News item (7/19/21): CMS Releases Latest COVID SEP Enrollment Report
- News item (7/8/21): State Medicaid Expansion Fact Sheets Available
- News item (6/15/21): CMS Highlights Benefits of ACA and COVID SEP
- News item (6/10/21): New Report Shows Record Enrollment under the ACA
- News item (3/25/21): COVID SEP Webinar Archived
- News item (3/23/21): COVID SEP Extended!
Young Invincibles has released a report on the 2021 State of Enrollment which looks at how enrollment fared during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms (CHIR) has three new blog posts which highlight a variety of topics. The first post addresses what some states are doing to add a public option for their state. The second post looks at what states are doing to facilitate enrollment through “easy enrollment” programs. The third post examines how health insurers can advance health equity through the Affordable Care Act.
Archives of our weekly updates are available on the NDNRC website.