Best’s News & Research Service - March 02, 2015 12:12 PM (EST)
A.M. Best Briefing: Looking Ahead to the Exchanges' 2015 Open Enrollment
- March 02, 2015 12:12 PM (EST)
Oldwick //BestWire// - A new A.M. Best briefing, based on a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report, states that during the inaugural open-enrollment period, from Oct. 1, 2013, to March 31, 2014, more than 8 million individuals signed up for health insurance coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace—better known as the exchanges. The Best's Briefing is titled, "Looking Ahead to the Exchanges' 2015 Open Enrollment."
A HHS brief released in November 2014 stated that about 6.7 million still were enrolled as of Oct. 15, 2014. The drop in enrollment throughout the year resulted from numerous factors, including failure of enrollees to provide adequate documentation or proof of financial eligibility, nonpayment of premium and individuals' decisions to drop coverage. The same report estimated 9.1 million would enroll for 2015, which is much lower than the Congressional Budget Office's original estimate of 13 million made earlier in the year.
The marketplace was expected eventually to cover about 24 million people in a three-year period. However, based on current trends, a longer period is more realistic when factoring in the movement of these individuals between other government-funded programs such as Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.
As opposed to its initial year, the exchanges' 2015 enrollment period thus far has experienced minimal technical challenges. An Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation issue brief reported that through mid-January 2015, more than 9.5 million had enrolled. Nearly 7.2 million enrolled through the federal marketplace—about 58% of whom are re-enrolled, while the remaining 42% are first-time enrollees. Another 2.4 million were signed up in states running their own exchanges. These reports indicate that the exchanges have achieved their goal of having close to 9.1 million enrolled on Jan. 16, 2015, and A.M. Best expects a surge of enrollments just before Feb. 15, the end of the 2015 open enrollment period.
For the full copy of this briefing, please visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=234068 .
A.M. Best Company is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source.