RECORD ENROLLMENT IN ACA MARKETPLACES
Earlier this week, CMS released the final enrollment report for the COVID Special Enrollment Period (SEP). The report indicates that 2.8 million people got coverage through the ACA marketplaces during the COVID SEP. This brings the total enrollment through the ACA marketplaces to 12.2 million people – which is the highest enrollment numbers recorded since the start of the ACA marketplaces. To read more about the latest enrollment numbers, check out our news item which includes links to CMS’s press release and final SEP marketplace enrollment report along with an infographic on marketplace enrollment from HHS.
With this good news, it should be noted that while the COVID SEP did end for the federally facilitated marketplace and some state-based marketplaces, there still are some state-based marketplaces (SBMs) which are running a COVID SEP. You can find out what SBMs are still running a COVID SEP by checking out our blog post.
For those that do have coverage, now is the time to make sure that people are making the most out of their coverage. In an effort to highlight health insurance enrollment, 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 below which highlight the benefits of coverage. These graphics are available in the Community Catalyst Outreach Hub.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) included a two-year enhancement of the premium tax credits for those who qualify for financial assistance in the health insurance marketplace. This act has significantly enhanced coverage savings, and many state-based marketplaces (SBMs) have quickly seen changes in consumer affordability, with reductions in premiums for enrollees and a lower uninsured population. The National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) recently released a blog post which details how SBMs have implemented the increased tax credits provided by ARPA.
Speaking of the SBMs, last week CMS announced additional funding available to the SBMs to improve the technology used to support the SBMs. You can read more about it in the CMS press release.
Earlier this summer, CMS released an updated 2022 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters (NBPP). The proposed rules had a comment period to which many industries and organizations responded. The Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms has a new series of blog posts which breaks down the comments received from three distinct stakeholders: state insurance departments and marketplaces, insurance companies, and consumer advocates.
If you missed it last week, we highlighted our new blog post on the issue brief which was recently released by the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE). The issue brief looked at health insurance coverage for working age adults with disabilities in the years following the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The brief demonstrates how effective the ACA has been in increasing coverage opportunities for people with disabilities.
If you missed our announcement last month, AAHD will be working with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) again to provide technical assistance to navigators and other health insurance enrollment assisters. As part of this work, CBPP will once again be conducting its fall “Beyond the Basics” webinar series and they have announced the schedule for nine webinars. The webinars will continue this Tuesday, September 21 addressing the issue of immigrant eligibility for health coverage programs. The webinar series runs through the middle of October, including a webinar on October 14 which AAHD will be presenting on “Best Practices for Assisting People with Disabilities”. The topics of the scheduled webinars as well as dates and times and links to register can be found in our news item.
Archives of our weekly updates are available on the NDNRC website.