OVER 21 MILLION CHOOSE ACA MARKETPLACE COVERAGE
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that 21.3 million people chose an ACA Marketplace plan during the 2024 open enrollment period. Five million of these enrollees were new to the Marketplace, most likely due to losing Medicaid coverage in the last year.
The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) broke down the open enrollment numbers further, with main reasons being the Medicaid unwinding and enhanced subsidies from the Inflation Reduction Act. Enrollment numbers have nearly doubled since 2020, with only 11.4 million enrolled in the Marketplace four years ago.
As of January 26, over 15.7 million Medicaid enrollees have lost coverage, according to data from KFF. 33% of those who completed the renewal process were disenrolled and 30.6 million enrollees were able to qualify for renewed coverage. The large range of disenrollment rates in each state varies, with the highest of 61% being in Texas and the lowest of 13% in Maine and Oregon. Out of all states with available data, 71% of all those disenrolled were due to procedural reasons.
Open enrollment ended this past Tuesday; however, some may qualify for a special enrollment period. Changes in household like marriage, having a baby/adopted a child/placed a child in foster care, divorce/legal separation, death, changes in residence, or loss of health coverage all qualify for a special enrollment period.
The CHIRblog released a post-enrollment FAQ from their Navigator Resource Guide. As open enrollment ended last week, post-enrollment questions and answers include topics on deductibles, filing an internal appeal, and using out-of-network providers.
Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families (CCF) reported on how states can leverage Medicaid to the mental health of postpartum mothers and babies. This would extend postpartum coverage from 60 days to one full year, ensuring the mental health of new mothers, especially mothers with disabilities and their children.
CCF also covered CMS’ announcement for a Notice of Funding Opportunity to help expand school-based health services for children enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act has set aside $50 million in grants for states interested in expanding services delivered by school-based entities under Medicaid or CHIP.
Take part in the National Survey on Health and Disability, an anonymous and confidential survey that focuses on access to health care, insurance coverage, housing, transportation, long COVID, participation in the community, employment and more. Your experiences and opinions matter and are critical to include in this research that aims to inform and call decision-makers to action on issues that you and other people with disabilities care about. The survey can be completed online with a smartphone, tablet, computer or over the telephone with a project staff person. View the press release or outreach video for more information!
Open enrollment has ended but there are still people with disabilities who qualify for a special enrollment period. Navigators who work with people with disabilities who have communication-related needs in the process of applying for health insurance coverage through the Marketplace can review the NDNRC’s latest factsheet on assisting consumers with communication needs, complete with an accessible PDF version.
Archives of our weekly updates are available on the NDNRC website.