Over cryptocurrency’s ten-year history, this space has been beaten to hell and back by skeptics who don’t think (or don’t want) the innovation to succeed. Yet, one Bitcoin-friendly venture capitalist claims that there’s an inevitability to the crypto space. Better yet, he remarked that even those sardonic towards this space have an inkling of a feeling that this paradigm-shifting innovation could potentially garner traction the world ove
Open enrollment for 2018 coverage followed the same November to January schedule, ending on January 31, 2018. In May 2018, New York State of Health published an enrollment report, noting that total enrollment in public and private plans through the exchange (including Medicaid, the Essential Plan, Child Health Plus, and private plans) had reached 4.3 million people by the end of January, which was an increase of 700,000 people compared with the year before.
At the end of the open enrollment period for 2018 coverage, enrollment was as follows:
253,102 people had enrolled in private health plans, aka QHPs.
738,851 people had enrolled in the Essential Plan (a Basic Health Program for people with income up to 200 percent of the poverty level)
374,577 people had enrolled in Child Health Plus
2,965,863 people had enrolled in Medicaid
New York’s QHP enrollment numbers dropped in 2016, which was due in part to the Essential Plan becoming available. The Essential Plan also reduced the percentage of QHP enrollees who received premiums subsidies, dropping from 70 percent in 2015 to 55 percent in 2016. That had increased to 59 percent by 2018.
Read more about the New York health insurance marketplace.
Health Republic CO-OP closed in November 2015
One of the available plans during the first two open enrollment periods was an ACA-created Consumer Oriented and Operated Plan (CO-OP). Under the ACA, the federal government awarded $2 billion in start-up funding to CO-OPs in 22 states.
In New York, the CO-OP was Freelancers Health Service Corporation (also known as Health Republic), which received $174 million in federal funding. The CO-OP was highly successful in terms of enrollments, garnering about 20 percent of the individual market in New York in both 2014 and 2015. However, it struggled financially, and in September 2015, state and federal regulators shut down the CO-OP.
Learn more about the Affordable Care Act’s CO-OPs.
New York Medicaid/CHIP enrollment
Medicaid/CHIP enrollment in New York increased by 14 percent from the fall of 2013 to July 2018. The state’s acceptance of federal funding to expand Medicaid eligibility to 138 percent of poverty has played a significant role in New York’s Obamacare success.
The ACA called for Medicaid expansion nationwide, but in 2012 the Supreme Court ruled that states could opt out, and 19 states have not yet expanded their Medicaid programs.
During the first open enrollment period, the Kaiser Family Foundation estimated that about 43 percent of the 2.2 million non-elderly uninsured residents in New York would be eligible for Medicaid or CHIP under the expanded eligibility guidelines created by the ACA. Eligible applicants can enroll in New York Medicaid year-round, so total enrollment has continued to increase, further lowering the uninsured rate in New York.
The addition of the Essential Plan in 2016 helped to smooth the transition between Medicaid and private health plans. People with income a little too high for Medicaid (139 percent to 200 percent of the federal poverty level) qualify for the Essential Plan instead of having to enroll in a subsidized private plan. Enrollment in the Essential Plan had reached 740,000 people by 2018, and will continue to have premiums of $20/month or less in 2019.
Read more about Medicaid expansion in New York.
Short-term health insurance in New York
The state of New York requires health plans to be guaranteed renewable and cover essential health benefits. As a result of those two regulations, the state does not allow the sale of short-term health plans, despite new federal short-term rules.
Read more about short-term health insurance in New York.
How Obamacare has helped New York
In most of the United States, individual health insurance was medically underwritten prior to 2014, meaning that people with pre-existing conditions were often unable to purchase private coverage. But in New York, former Gov. Mario Cuomo signed a law in 1992 that required all policies in the state to be guaranteed issue, regardless of medical history. They also switched to a community rating system, with the same premiums charged for everyone, regardless of age.
Although the 1992 law was heralded by consumer advocates as a victory, it lacked two of the major market stabilization components that the ACA has now enacted. There were no open enrollment periods (people could buy coverage anytime they wanted), and there was no individual mandate, so people could wait until they were in need of care before purchasing health insurance.
Two decades later, health insurance premiums in New York were the highest in the nation, and coverage options were very limited, with few carriers choosing to participate in the market in New York.
The ACA brought much-needed changes to New York, keeping the guaranteed issue model (and in New York, coverage is still community-rated), but adding the vitally important individual mandate, limited enrollment period, and premium subsidies to make coverage affordable for middle class enrollees. As a result, the rates that the state approved for 2014 were an average of 50 percent lower than 2013 rates, and that was before factoring in the subsidies that 60 percent of New York State of health’s QHP enrollees receive (QHP stands for qualified health plan, which is another word for the private health plans offered for sale in the exchange, as opposed to Medicaid, the Essential Plan, and Child Health Plus). Officials in NY noted that 2018 premiums continue to be more than 50 percent lower than pre-2014 rates, despite modest rate increases each year.
In 2013, about 10.7 percent of New York residents were uninsured, according to US Census data. By 2017, that number had fallen by nearly half, to 5.7 percent. At that point, the average uninsured rate across the US was 8.7 percent, and just 13 states had uninsured rates lower than New York’s.
Open enrollment for 2018 coverage followed the same November to January schedule, ending on January 31, 2018. In May 2018, New York State of Health published an enrollment report, noting that total enrollment in public and private plans through the exchange (including Medicaid, the Essential Plan, Child Health Plus, and private plans) had reached 4.3 million people by the end of January, which was an increase of 700,000 people compared with the year before.
At the end of the open enrollment period for 2018 coverage, enrollment was as follows:
253,102 people had enrolled in private health plans, aka QHPs.
738,851 people had enrolled in the Essential Plan (a Basic Health Program for people with income up to 200 percent of the poverty level)
374,577 people had enrolled in Child Health Plus
2,965,863 people had enrolled in Medicaid
New York’s QHP enrollment numbers dropped in 2016, which was due in part to the Essential Plan becoming available. The Essential Plan also reduced the percentage of QHP enrollees who received premiums subsidies, dropping from 70 percent in 2015 to 55 percent in 2016. That had increased to 59 percent by 2018.
Read more about the New York health insurance marketplace.
Health Republic CO-OP closed in November 2015
One of the available plans during the first two open enrollment periods was an ACA-created Consumer Oriented and Operated Plan (CO-OP). Under the ACA, the federal government awarded $2 billion in start-up funding to CO-OPs in 22 states.
In New York, the CO-OP was Freelancers Health Service Corporation (also known as Health Republic), which received $174 million in federal funding. The CO-OP was highly successful in terms of enrollments, garnering about 20 percent of the individual market in New York in both 2014 and 2015. However, it struggled financially, and in September 2015, state and federal regulators shut down the CO-OP.
Learn more about the Affordable Care Act’s CO-OPs.
New York Medicaid/CHIP enrollment
Medicaid/CHIP enrollment in New York increased by 14 percent from the fall of 2013 to July 2018. The state’s acceptance of federal funding to expand Medicaid eligibility to 138 percent of poverty has played a significant role in New York’s Obamacare success.
The ACA called for Medicaid expansion nationwide, but in 2012 the Supreme Court ruled that states could opt out, and 19 states have not yet expanded their Medicaid programs.
During the first open enrollment period, the Kaiser Family Foundation estimated that about 43 percent of the 2.2 million non-elderly uninsured residents in New York would be eligible for Medicaid or CHIP under the expanded eligibility guidelines created by the ACA. Eligible applicants can enroll in New York Medicaid year-round, so total enrollment has continued to increase, further lowering the uninsured rate in New York.
The addition of the Essential Plan in 2016 helped to smooth the transition between Medicaid and private health plans. People with income a little too high for Medicaid (139 percent to 200 percent of the federal poverty level) qualify for the Essential Plan instead of having to enroll in a subsidized private plan. Enrollment in the Essential Plan had reached 740,000 people by 2018, and will continue to have premiums of $20/month or less in 2019.
Read more about Medicaid expansion in New York.
Short-term health insurance in New York
The state of New York requires health plans to be guaranteed renewable and cover essential health benefits. As a result of those two regulations, the state does not allow the sale of short-term health plans, despite new federal short-term rules.
Read more about short-term health insurance in New York.
How Obamacare has helped New York
In most of the United States, individual health insurance was medically underwritten prior to 2014, meaning that people with pre-existing conditions were often unable to purchase private coverage. But in New York, former Gov. Mario Cuomo signed a law in 1992 that required all policies in the state to be guaranteed issue, regardless of medical history. They also switched to a community rating system, with the same premiums charged for everyone, regardless of age.
Although the 1992 law was heralded by consumer advocates as a victory, it lacked two of the major market stabilization components that the ACA has now enacted. There were no open enrollment periods (people could buy coverage anytime they wanted), and there was no individual mandate, so people could wait until they were in need of care before purchasing health insurance.
Two decades later, health insurance premiums in New York were the highest in the nation, and coverage options were very limited, with few carriers choosing to participate in the market in New York.
The ACA brought much-needed changes to New York, keeping the guaranteed issue model (and in New York, coverage is still community-rated), but adding the vitally important individual mandate, limited enrollment period, and premium subsidies to make coverage affordable for middle class enrollees. As a result, the rates that the state approved for 2014 were an average of 50 percent lower than 2013 rates, and that was before factoring in the subsidies that 60 percent of New York State of health’s QHP enrollees receive (QHP stands for qualified health plan, which is another word for the private health plans offered for sale in the exchange, as opposed to Medicaid, the Essential Plan, and Child Health Plus). Officials in NY noted that 2018 premiums continue to be more than 50 percent lower than pre-2014 rates, despite modest rate increases each year.
In 2013, about 10.7 percent of New York residents were uninsured, according to US Census data. By 2017, that number had fallen by nearly half, to 5.7 percent. At that point, the average uninsured rate across the US was 8.7 percent, and just 13 states had uninsured rates lower than New York’s.
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