Sun, 10/05/2025 - 2:18pm Originally posted 1/21/25 California has ~1.98 MILLION residents enrolled in ACA exchange plans, over 88% of whom are currently subsidized. They also have an estimated ~470,000 off-exchange enrollees. Combined, that's over 2.4 million people, or 6.2% of their total population. In early 2021, Congressional Democrats & President Biden passed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which dramatically expanded & enhanced the original premium subsidy formula of the Affordable...| ACA Signups
Sun, 10/05/2025 - 10:07am Twelve years ago, the Wall St. Journal ran a story about the impact of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, a sweeping tax bill signed into law by President Obama which locked in the Bush tax cuts for lower & middle-class households while allowing them to expire on schedule for wealthier Americans: A compromise measure, the Act gives permanence to the lower rate of much of the Bush tax cuts, while retaining the higher tax rate at upper income levels that became ...| ACA Signups
Sun, 10/05/2025 - 8:03am Originally posted 8/12/25 Overall preliminary rate changes via the SERFF database, California Insurance Dept. and/or the federal Rate Review database. Aetna/CVS (Aetna/CVS is pulling out of the entire individual market nationally) Anthem Blue Cross of CA (DMHC) This is a rate filing for the Individual market ACA‐compliant plans offered by Anthem Blue Cross (Anthem). The proposed rates in this filing will be effective for the 2026 plan year beginning January 1, 2026,...| ACA Signups
Fri, 10/03/2025 - 5:40pm Originally published 8/04/25 Via the Utah Insurance Dept: BridgeSpan Health Co: The projected average rate change for plans effective January 1, 2026 is 16.0% which is an average rate change of about $87 per member per month (pmpm). Because 16.0% (or about $87) is an average, it is possible to have a different rate change. Factors affecting a member's premium are age, tobacco use, family composition, plan, and geographic area. Expected cost differences by product are ...| ACA Signups
Fri, 10/03/2025 - 4:21pm In the most recent chapter of the ongoing 2026 Arkansas rate filing saga, I noted that both the total number of residents enrolled in ACA individual market policies as well as the average 2026 rate increases for the six insurance carriers participating in the individual market next year kept changing, often in ways which were contradictory with other numbers claimed within the same press releases: You'll notice that in addition to the rate changes being updated (incre...| ACA Signups
Fri, 10/03/2025 - 4:07pm originally posted 7/17/25 via the Iowa Insurance Division: Iowa Code §505.19 requires the Commissioner to hold a public hearing on a proposed individual health insurance rate increase which exceeds the average annual health spending growth rate as published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the United State Department of Health and Human Services. For 2026 the growth rate is 5.6%. The Iowa Insurance Commissioner will hold a public hearing regardi...| ACA Signups
Fri, 10/03/2025 - 10:24am Originally posted 12/11/24 Iowa has around 136,000 residents enrolled in ACA exchange plans, 88% of whom are currently subsidized. I estimate they also have another ~9,600 unsubsidized off-exchange enrollees. Combined, that's over 146,000 people, although assuming the national average 6.6% net enrollment attrition rate applies, current enrollment would be down to more like 136,000 statewide. In early 2021, Congressional Democrats & President Biden passed the Amer...| ACA Signups
Fri, 10/03/2025 - 9:40am Originally posted 6/04/25 via the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation: Oregonians continue to have at least five health insurance companies to choose from in every Oregon county as companies file 2026 health insurance rate requests for individual and small group markets In-depth rate review process just beginning, opportunities for public review and input remain through June 20 June 2, 2025 Oregon health insurers have submitted proposed 2026 rates for individual a...| ACA Signups
Via NBC News: A Washington Post poll conducted on Oct. 1, the first day of the shutdown, found that 47% of U.S. adults blame Trump and Republicans in Congress, while 30% blame Democrats and 23% said they're not sure. The survey found that independents blamed Trump and Republicans over Democrats by a wide margin of 50% to 22%. And one-third of Republicans were either unsure who to blame (25%) or blamed their party (8%). While I'm glad to see that far more people are rightly blaming Trump & Con...| ACA Signups
Originally posted 7/18/25 via the District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking: This page contains proposed health plan rate information for the District of Columbia’s health insurance marketplace, DC Health Link, for plan year 2026. The District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) received 188 proposed health insurance plan rates for review from CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Kaiser Permanente and United Healthcare in advance of open ...| ACA Signups
Originally posted on 8/10/25 Overall preliminary rate changes via the SERFF database, Virginia Bureau of Insurance and/or the federal Rate Review database. Aetna Health: (Aetna/CVS is dropping out of the entire individual market nationally in response to Congressional Republicans allowing the upgraded ACA subsidies to expire): ...This letter is formal notice that Aetna Health Inc. (“AHI”) intends to exit from the Individual health insurance market in Virginia effective January 1, 2026. Su...| ACA Signups
Last week I urged Democrats to demand Congressional Republicans rein in the Trump Regime's out-of-control dictatorial rampage as well as going big on healthcare policy as part of the "government shutdown" battle...but that to the extent that they do make the main focus healthcare policy, at the very least to not settle for simply bumping out the enhanced ACA tax credits by a year or two: You know I'm a pretty mainstream Democrat. I'm not demanding Medicare for All here. What I am urging on th...| ACA Signups
With the ongoing budget battle approaching the Sept. 30th federal government shut down deadline, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) have formally introduced a bicameral Continuing Resolution bill to fund the government for an extra month to buy more time to negotiate and avoid a shutdown by the Republican-controlled federal government: Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair, and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-...| ACA Signups
With the ongoing budget battle approaching the Sept. 30th federal government shut down deadline, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) have formally introduced a bicameral Continuing Resolution bill to fund the government for an extra month to buy more time to negotiate and avoid a shutdown by the Republican-controlled federal government: ashington, D.C. — Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair, and Congresswo...| ACA Signups
via Covered California: La versión en español de este Comunicado puede ser descargada en este enlace. SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Covered California issued the following statement concerning the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announcement of official immunization recommendations, following the passage of Assembly Bill 144: “We applaud Gov. Newsom, the California Legislature and the Department of Public Health for recommending immunizations that are backed by scientific research ...| ACA Signups
Every year, I spend months painstakingly tracking every insurance carrier rate filing (nearly 400 for 2025!) for the following year to determine just how much average insurance policy premiums on the individual market are projected to increase or decrease. Carriers tendency to jump in and out of the market, repeatedly revise their requests, and the confusing blizzard of actual filing forms sometimes make it next to impossible to find the specific data I need. I really only need three pieces o...| ACA Signups
(sigh) So, moments ago I received the following press release from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS): Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled details on how states can apply to receive funding from the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program created under the Working Families Tax Cuts Act to strengthen health care across rural America. This unprecedented investment is designed to empower states to transform the existing rural health care inf...| ACA Signups
originally posted 6/7/25 via the Connecticut Insurance Dept: The Connecticut Insurance Department has posted the initial proposed health insurance rate filings for the 2026 individual and small group markets. There are 8 filings made by 7 health insurers for plans that currently cover approximately 224,000 people (158,000 individual and 66,000 small group). Anthem has filed rates for both individual and small group plans that will be marketed through Access Health CT, the state-sponsored heal...| ACA Signups
Healthcare policy data, analysis & snark.| ACA Signups
For months now I've been shouting from the rooftops about the imminent expiration of the improved federal tax credits for ACA enrollees, repeatedly pointing out that those already paying full price are gonna get hit with average premium hikes of over 23% while most of the 92% of exchange enrollees who currently receive at least some federal assistance will see their net premiums skyrocket by up to 100%, 200% or even 300% or more. Having helped cause this crisis in the first place both by refu...| ACA Signups
It was in early 2021 that Congressional Democrats passed & President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which among other things dramatically expanded & enhanced the original premium subsidy formula of the Affordable Care Act, finally bringing the financial aid sliding income scale up to the level it should have been in the first place over a decade earlier. In addition to beefing up the subsidies along the entire 100 - 400% Federal Poverty Level (FPL) income scale, the ARPA al...| ACA Signups
Not that this should surprise anyone, but it's good to have the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) formally chime in: Re: The Effects of Not Extending the Expanded Premium Tax Credits for the Number of Uninsured People and the Growth in Premiums Dear Chairman Wyden, Ranking Member Neal, Senator Shaheen, and Congresswoman Underwood: You have asked the Congressional Budget Office to discuss the effects on health insurance coverage and premiums that will result from not extending—either for one...| ACA Signups
As I noted in yesterday's analysis of the semi-final 2023 Open Enrollment Period report released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, one of the most striking data points we're seeing this year is a significant drop in year over year on-exchange enrollment across a number of states operating their own ACA exchanges...even as enrollment continues to surge across states hosted on the federal exchange (HealthCare.Gov). Overall, QHP enrollment in HC.gov states (Federally Facilitated M...| ACA Signups