Benefits Buzz

ACA Exchange Sign Up Statistics

Posted on February 7th, 2014

  • The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has reported Exchange application submissions have exceeded 3 million.
  • The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has updated 2014 Exchange enrollment estimates to 6 million.
  • Some reports are showing that 22,000 Exchange applicants were enrolled in the wrong plan or received a lower subsidy than expected,  15,000 Exchange applications were lost and only 11% of Exchange applicants were previously uninsured.
  • There are no official reports that indicate how many people had their health insurance plan cancelled as of Jan. 1, 2014, but there are huge discrepancies between the number of policies that Republicans and Democrats believe were cancelled. Democrats believe it was just a few hundred thousand policies whereas Republicans believe it was several million.

CNN recently conducted a survey which suggests that 1 in 5 individuals that signed up for coverage in the Exchange for a January 1st effective date failed to make their initial premium payment. This would mean that more than 400,000 individuals will have their effective date changed or their application for coverage cancelled. The survey did not provide any reason(s) for the missed payments. It’s unknown if the missed payments were a result of billing issues that may have occurred at the insurance company, subsidy errors that may have occurred through the Exchange, or if these individuals intentionally chose not to make a payment for their own reasons. 

Several insurance companies commented on this topic for the survey with the high end quoting as many as 30% of their applicants missed the payment and 12% on the low end. It does not appear that any additional extensions for January premium payments will be granted at this time. Most insurance companies have already given 3-5 extensions. 

We’re probably going to hear a lot of different statistics over the upcoming months that focus on enrollment numbers, but we will have to wait until after March 31st (when the open enrollment period ends) to get a true understanding of how many people actually gained access to coverage through the Exchanges.

Join our mailing list or click here to stay updated on the latest healthcare reform news with Flexible Benefit Service LLC (Flex).

 

The materials contained within this communication are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal or tax advice.  

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