Health Insurance Marketplace Open Enrollment Snapshot
Week 13: January 24, 2016 – February 1, 2016
News Release from US Department of Health and Human Services February 4, 2016
On January 31, Open Enrollment for 2016 coverage ended, with about 12.7 million plan selections through the Health Insurance Marketplaces. Of the 12.7 million consumers enrolling in Marketplace coverage, over 9.6 million came through the HealthCare.gov platform and 3.1 million selected a plan through State-based Marketplaces. It is also worth noting that nearly 400,000 people signed up for New York’s new Basic Health Program, along with about 33,000 people who signed up for Minnesota’s Basic Health Program, during this Open Enrollment. Basic Health Programs are state based programs supported by the Affordable Care Act that provide health insurance coverage to low income individuals who would generally otherwise be eligible for qualified health plans. In fact, about 300,000 of the New York Basic Health Program enrollees for 2016 are people who enrolled in Marketplace coverage for 2015 and were included in last year’s Marketplace total plan selections.
The Week 13 Open Enrollment Snapshot extends through 11:59pm EST on Monday, February 1, instead of through the January 31 deadline, to better capture consumers who may have been in line. This is the final snapshot for 2016 Open Enrollment.
“Open Enrollment for 2016 is over and we are happy to report it was a success,” said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell. “The Health Insurance Marketplace is changing people’s lives for the better. Across the country, about 12.7 million Americans selected affordable, quality health plans for 2016 coverage, exceeding our goals. That includes over 4 million new consumers in the HealthCare.gov states who signed-up for coverage this year. The Marketplace is growing and getting stronger and the ACA has become a crucial part of healthcare in America.”
Of the 9.6 million consumers who got coverage through the HealthCare.gov platform, about 4.0 million are new consumers, which means about 42 percent of all plan selections were from new consumers. This does not include other new plan selections from State-based Marketplaces which will increase the total number of new consumers for 2016. In addition to the 4 million new HealthCare.gov consumers, about 3.9 million were returning Marketplace consumers who actively selected a plan and about 1.7 million were automatically enrolled by the Marketplace.
It is important to keep in mind that, because of improvements we made to further automate transactions with insurers, this year’s plan selection totals take into account any consumer initiated or insurer initiated cancelation that occurred during Open Enrollment. Last year’s totals only accounted for consumer-initiated cancelations, which means that this year’s totals have accounted for a larger number of cancellations during, rather than after, Open Enrollment. Because of these changes, there will likely be a smaller difference this year between plan selection totals at the end of Open Enrollment and subsequent effectuated enrollment snapshots.
The weekly Open Enrollment snapshots provide point-in-time estimates of weekly plan selections, call center activity and visits to HealthCare.gov or CuidadoDeSalud.gov. The final number of plan selections associated with enrollment activity to date could fluctuate as plan changes or cancellations occur, such as in response to life changes like starting a new job or getting married.
A more detailed report that looks at plan selections across all states for the entire Open Enrollment period will be released by HHS at a later time.
Definitions and details on the data are included in the glossary.
Federal Marketplace Snapshot
Federal Marketplace Snapshot Week 13 Jan 24 – Feb 1 / Cumulative Nov 1 – Feb 1
Plan Selections (net) 686,708 9,625,982
Applications Submitted (Number of Consumers) * *
Call Center Volume 2,115,411 14,569,745
Average Call Center Wait Time 14 minutes 50 seconds 10 minutes 31 seconds
Calls with Spanish Speaking Representative 164,364 938,952
Average Wait for Spanish Speaking Rep 54 seconds 26 seconds
HealthCare.gov Users 5,357,482 29,422,294
CuidadoDeSalud.gov Users 276,415 1,706,154
Window Shopping HealthCare.gov Users 1,305,998 9,642,929
Window Shopping CuidadoDeSalud.gov Users 27,914 189,953
* Applications submitted could not be validated this week.
HealthCare.gov State-by-State Snapshot
The Week 13 Snapshot provides cumulative individual plan selections for the states using the HealthCare.gov platform. States with the fastest rate of growth between Week 12 and Week 13 are Nevada (12%), Texas (11%) and Hawaii (10%). [Those states with the largest rate of growth increase between OE3 and OE2 are Oregon (31%), Utah (25%), Iowa (22%), South Dakota (22%) and Nevada (20%).]
Individual plan selections for the states using the HealthCare.gov platform include:
Week 13 Cumulative Plan Selections Nov 1 – Feb 1
Alabama 195,055
Alaska 23,029
Arizona 203,066
Arkansas 73,648
Delaware 28,256
Florida 1,742,819
Georgia 587,845
Hawaii 14,564
Illinois 388,179
Indiana 196,242
Iowa 55,089
Kansas 101,555
Louisiana 214,148
Maine 84,059
Michigan 345,813
Mississippi 108,672
Missouri 290,201
Montana 58,114
Nebraska 87,835
Nevada 88,145
New Hampshire 55,183
New Jersey 288,573
New Mexico 54,865
North Carolina 613,487
North Dakota 21,604
Ohio 243,715
Oklahoma 145,329
Oregon 147,109
Pennsylvania 439,238
South Carolina 231,849
South Dakota 25,999
Tennessee 268,867
Texas 1,306,208
Utah 175,637
Virginia 421,897
West Virginia 37,284
Wisconsin 239,034
Wyoming 23,770
HealthCare.gov Local Market Snapshot
The Week 13 snapshot includes a look at plan section by Designated Market Areas (DMAs) which are local media markets. These data provides another level of detail to better understand total plan selections within local communities. Some DMAs include one or more counties in a state that is not using the HealthCare.gov platform in 2016. Plan selections for those DMAs only include data for the portions of these areas that are using the HealthCare.gov platform, so the cumulative totals in the snapshot do not represent plan selections for the entire DMA. In addition, some DMAs cross into multiple states that use the HealthCare.gov platform and those totals are cumulative for all HealthCare.gov states in that DMA. Because some communities do not fall into a DMA, cumulative plan selections for local markets will not total to the national cumulative plan selection number.
The ten markets showing the fastest rate of growth between Week 12 and Week 13 include Yuma, Arizona (21 percent), Corpus Christi, Texas (17 percent), Harlingen, Texas (16 percent), Laredo, Texas (16 percent), El Paso, Texas (14 percent), Odessa-Midland, Texas (14 percent), San Antonio, Texas (14 percent), Abilene-Sweetwater, Texas (13 percent), Las Vegas, Nevada (13 percent) and Lubbock, Texas (12 percent). Eight of the ten markets showing the strongest growth are in Texas.
Local Markets in HealthCare.gov States State Cumulative Plan Selections Nov 1 – Feb 1
Abilene-Sweetwater Texas 11,221
Albany Georgia 17,339
Albuquerque-Santa Fe New Mexico 46,836
Alexandria Louisiana 10,025
Alpena Michigan 2,065*
Amarillo Texas 15,668
Anchorage Alaska 14,968
Atlanta Georgia 443,720
Augusta Georgia 33,718
Austin Texas 125,926
Bangor Maine 23,685
Baton Rouge Louisiana 45,424
Beaumont-Port Arthur Texas 15,602
Bend Oregon 10,828
Billings Montana 16,710
Biloxi-Gulfport Mississippi 10,301
Birmingham (Ann and Tusc) Alabama 77,782
Bluefield-Beckley-Oak Hill West Virginia 7,891
Boise Idaho 914*
Boston (Manchester) Massachusetts 44,126
Buffalo New York 1,334
Burlington-Plattsburgh Vermont 5,205
Butte-Bozeman Montana 9,732
Casper-Riverton Wyoming 5,315
Cedar Rapids-Wtrlo-Iwc & Dub Iowa 16,818
Champaign & Sprngfld-Decatur Illinois 25,196
Charleston South Carolina 47,833
Charleston-Huntington West Virginia 17,033
Charlotte North Carolina 208,622
Charlottesville Virginia 16,335
Chattanooga Tennessee 40,178
Cheyenne-Scottsbluff Wyoming 6,756
Chicago Illinois 310,523
Cincinnati Ohio 49,299
Clarksburg-Weston West Virginia 6,267
Cleveland-Akron (Canton) Ohio 86,600
Columbia South Carolina 45,680
Columbia-Jefferson City Missouri 22,811
Columbus Georgia 20,961
Columbus Ohio 48,427
Columbus-Tupelo-West Point Mississippi 14,601
Corpus Christi Texas 21,870
Dallas-Ft. Worth Texas 382,669
Davenport-R. Island-Moline Iowa/Illinois 17,966
Dayton Ohio 23,774
Denver Colorado 7,399
Des Moines-Ames Iowa 20,275
Detroit Michigan 180,516
Dothan Alabama 9,778
Duluth-Superior Minnesota 6,766
El Paso (Las Cruces) Texas 69,591
Elmira (Corning) New York 1,263
Erie Pennsylvania 9,356
Eugene Oregon 20,509
Evansville Indiana 14,592
Fairbanks Alaska 2,775
Fargo-Valley City North Dakota 11,275
Flint-Saginaw-Bay City Michigan 31,274
Ft. Myers-Naples Florida 92,695
Ft. Smith-Fay-Sprngdl-Rgrs Arkansas 23,796
Ft. Wayne Indiana 22,630*
Gainesville Florida 20,355
Glendive Montana 549*
Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk Michigan 69,942
Great Falls Montana 8,046*
Green Bay-Appleton Wisconsin 52,161
Greensboro-H.Point-W.Salem North Carolina 109,342
Greenville-N.Bern-Washngtn North Carolina 44,373
Greenvll-Spart-Ashevll-And North Carolina 119,731
Greenwood-Greenville Mississippi 7,710
Harlingen-Wslco-Brnsvl-Mca Texas 60,652
Harrisburg-Lncstr-Leb-York Pennsylvania 63,932
Harrisonburg Virginia 12,457
Hattiesburg-Laurel Mississippi 11,843
Helena Montana 2,710
Honolulu Hawaii 14,564
Houston Texas 346,822
Huntsville-Decatur Alabama 39,020
Idaho Falls-Pocatello Idaho 2,812*
Indianapolis Indiana 90,546
Jackson Mississippi 42,066
Jackson Tennessee 11,935
Jacksonville Florida 104,838
Johnstown-Altoona Pennsylvania 20,218
Jonesboro Arkansas 5,980
Joplin-Pittsburg Missouri 16,230
Juneau Alaska 3,122
Kansas City Kansas/Missouri 110,572
Knoxville Tennessee 53,456
La Crosse-Eau Claire Wisconsin 24,288
Lafayette Indiana 3,327*
Lafayette Louisiana 26,848
Lake Charles Louisiana 7,231
Lansing Michigan 15,305
Laredo Texas 16,338
Las Vegas Nevada 62,697
Lima Ohio 1,694*
Lincoln & Hastings-Krny Nebraska 38,945
Little Rock-Pine Bluff Arkansas 35,806
Louisville Kentucky 8,897
Lubbock Texas 14,341
Macon Georgia 24,095
Madison Wisconsin 35,442
Marquette Michigan 9,763
Medford-Klamath Falls Oregon 14,768
Memphis Tennessee 66,838
Meridian Mississippi 4,400
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale Florida 643,911
Milwaukee Wisconsin 89,480
Minneapolis-St. Paul Minnesota 11,446
Minot-Bismarck-Dickinson North Dakota 12,100*
Missoula Montana 20,439
Mobile-Pensacola (Ft Walt) Alabama 67,056
Monroe-El Dorado Louisiana/Arkansas 22,114
Montgomery-Selma Alabama 20,585
Myrtle Beach-Florence Florida 42,224
Nashville Tennessee 105,784
New Orleans Louisiana 88,052
New York New York 228,538
Norfolk-Portsmth-Newpt News Virginia 84,623
North Platte Nebraska 1,757
Odessa-Midland Texas 13,796
Oklahoma City Oklahoma 73,593
Omaha Nebraska 39,699
Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbrn Florida 329,684
Ottumwa-Kirksville Missouri 3,847
Paducah-Cape Girard-Harsbg Illinois/Kentucky/Missouri 22,324
Panama City Florida 22,595
Parkersburg West Virginia 3,061*
Peoria-Bloomington Illinois 14,097
Philadelphia Pennsylvania 291,175
Phoenix (Prescott) Arizona 144,196
Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 83,157
Portland Oregon 96,271
Portland-Auburn Maine 61,519
Presque Isle Maine 4,297
Quincy-Hannibal-Keokuk Illinois/Missouri/Iowa 7,770
Raleigh-Durham (Fayetvlle) North Carolina 165,645
Rapid City South Dakota 8,101
Reno Nevada 23,683
Richmond-Petersburg Virginia 80,503
Roanoke-Lynchburg Virginia 51,408
Rochestr-Mason City-Austin Minnesota/Iowa 1,415*
Rockford Illinois 13,536
Salisbury Maryland 7,189
Salt Lake City Utah 176,093
San Angelo Texas 5,057
San Antonio Texas 120,351
Savannah Georgia 48,549
Sherman-Ada Texas 9,971
Shreveport Louisiana 37,864
Sioux City Iowa 10,616
Sioux Falls(Mitchell) South Dakota 19,316
South Bend-Elkhart Indiana 25,125
Spokane Washington 1,318*
Springfield Missouri 56,449
St. Joseph Missouri 3,954*
St. Louis Missouri 134,934
Tallahassee-Thomasville Florida 28,131
Tampa-St. Pete (Sarasota) Florida 284,753
Terre Haute Indiana 10,091
Toledo Ohio 19,187
Topeka Kansas 12,677
Traverse City-Cadillac Michigan 26,304
Tri-Cities Tennessee 26,400
Tucson (Sierra Vista) Arizona 34,382
Tulsa Oklahoma 50,147
Tyler-Longview(Lfkn&Ncgd) Texas 25,115
Victoria Texas 2,383
Waco-Temple-Bryan Texas 28,627
Washington, DC (Hagerstown) 177,615
Wausau-Rhinelander Wisconsin 21,172
West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce Florida 191,899
Wheeling-Steubenville Ohio 6,663
Wichita Falls & Lawton Texas 11,167
Wichita-Hutchinson Plus Kansas 39,120
Wilkes Barre-Scranton Pennsylvania 47,943
Wilmington Delaware 33,829
Yakima-Pasco-Rchlnd-Knnwck Oregon 1,853*
Youngstown Ohio 13,826
Yuma-El Centro Arizona 4,467
Zanesville Ohio 1,338
*Because there was a change of 11 or fewer enrollments between Week 12 and Week 13 and this data needed to be suppressed in the Week 12 snapshot, the growth in these markets is from Week 11 to Week 13.
Glossary
Plan Selections: The weekly and cumulative metrics provide a preliminary total of those who have submitted an application and selected a plan. Each week’s plan selections reflect the total number of plan selections for the week and cumulatively from the beginning of Open Enrollment to the end of the reporting period, net of any cancellations from a consumer or cancellations from an insurer during that time.
Because of further automation in communication with insurers, the number of net plan selections reported this year account for insurer-initiated plan cancellations that occur before the end of Open Enrollment for reasons such as non-payment of premiums. This change will result in a larger number of cancellations being accounted for during Open Enrollment than last year. Last year, these cancellations were reflected only in reports on effectuated enrollment after the end of Open Enrollment. As a result, there may also be a smaller difference this year between plan selections at the end of Open Enrollment and subsequent effectuated enrollment, although some difference will remain because plan cancellations related to non-payment of premium will frequently occur after the end of Open Enrollment.
Plan selections include those consumers who are automatically re-enrolled into their current plan or another plan with similar benefits, which occurs at the end of December.
To have their coverage effectuated, consumers generally need to pay their first month’s health plan premium. This release does not include totals for effectuated enrollments.
Basic Health Program: Under the Affordable Care Act, the Basic Health Program is a tool states can choose to use that provides alternative coverage to people with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, who would otherwise be eligible to buy Qualified Health Plans through their Marketplaces. Plans selected under the Basic Health Program are very similar to Marketplace coverage. It is health insurance that is bought through a state Marketplace, contains all ten categories of essential health benefits, and provides financial assistance to consumers.
Marketplace: Generally, references to the Health Insurance Marketplace in this report refer to 38 states that use the HealthCare.gov platform. The states using the HealthCare.gov platform are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
HealthCare.gov States: The 38 states that use the HealthCare.gov platform for the 2016 benefit year, including the Federally-facilitated Marketplace, State Partnership Marketplaces and State-based Marketplaces.
Local Markets: Cumulative plan selections for local markets are based on Designated Market Areas (DMAs) which are media markets. Some DMAs include one or more counties in a state that is not using the HealthCare.gov platform in 2016. Plan selections for those DMAs only include data for the portions of these areas that are using the HealthCare.gov platform, so the cumulative totals in the snapshot do not represent plan selections for the entire DMA.
Applications Submitted: This includes a consumer who is on a completed and submitted application or who, through the automatic re-enrollment process, which occurs at the end of December, had an application submitted to a Marketplace using the HealthCare.gov platform. If determined eligible for Marketplace coverage, a new consumer still needs to pick a health plan (i.e., plan selection) and pay their premium to get covered (i.e., effectuated enrollment). Because families can submit a single application, this figure tallies the total number of people on a submitted application (rather than the total number of submitted applications).
Call Center Volume: The total number of calls received by the Federally-facilitated Marketplace call center over the course of the week covered by the snapshot or from the start of Open Enrollment. Calls with Spanish speaking representatives are not included.
Calls with Spanish Speaking Representative: The total number of calls received by the Federally-facilitated Marketplace call center where consumers chose to speak with a Spanish-speaking representative. These calls are not included within the Call Center Volume metric.
Average Call Center Wait Time: The average amount of time a consumer waited before reaching a customer service representative. The cumulative total averages wait time over the course of the extended time period.
HealthCare.gov or CuidadodeSalud.gov Users: These user metrics total how many unique users viewed or interacted with HealthCare.gov or CuidadodeSalud.gov , respectively, over the course of a specific date range. For cumulative totals, a separate report is run for the entire Open Enrollment period to minimize users being counted more than once during that longer range of time and to provide a more accurate estimate of unique users. Depending on an individual’s browser settings and browsing habits, a visitor may be counted as a unique user more than once.
Window Shopping HealthCare.gov Users or CuidadoDeSalud.gov Users: These user metrics total how many unique users interacted with the window-shopping tool at HealthCare.gov or CuidadoDeSalud.gov, respectively, over the course of a specific date range. For cumulative totals, a separate report is run for the entire Open Enrollment period to minimize users being counted more than once during that longer range of time and to provide a more accurate estimate of unique users. Depending on an individual’s browser settings and browsing habits, a visitor may be counted as a unique user more than once. Users who window-shopped are also included in the total HealthCare.gov or CuidadoDeSalud.gov