NC Enrollments for subsidized health insurance top 357,000
Published May 2, 2014
by John Murawski, Charlotte Observer, May 1, 2014.
North Carolina enrollments for health insurance surged to 357,000 as tens of thousands of residents signed up for subsidized coverage in the final weeks of eligibility, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday.
The late rush of insurance enrollments under the Affordable Care Act elevates North Carolina to the fifth-highest slot in the nation, surpassing most expectations for the law’s first year of enrollment, particularly in a Republican-controlled state that did not run its own insurance exchange.
Enrollments here represent a third of the state population eligible for health insurance, and are expected to take a significant chunk out of North Carolina’s uninsured population, which was 17 percent in 2012. Almost all of North Carolina’s enrollments came with federal subsidies for the applicants, suggesting that many of those signing up had been unable to afford coverage in the past.
“It’s an indicator that we made tremendous inroads with regards to the uninsured,” said Lee Dixon, Raleigh-based project director for the N.C. Navigator Consortium, which coordinated insurance outreach activities statewide. “It’s going to cut it (the uninsured population) significantly.”
Nationwide, more than 8 million have signed up for insurance under the new law, with several states doubling their enrollment totals in the last weeks of the open enrollment period.
North Carolina’s surge boosted enrollments from about 200,000 in February to 357,584. The total represents the number of people who have selected a plan but haven’t necessarily taken the final step of submitting a payment.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield, the state’s biggest health insurer, next week plans to announce the total who have paid and are insured. The company in past months said some enrollees never make a payment, and their applications lapse.
The deadline for 2014 enrollments closed March 31 but was extended to April 19 for those who had started their applications by the March deadline. After a disastrous rollout marred by malfunctioning software, enrollments didn’t get underway until December, emboldening critics to declare the Affordable Care Act a failure.
The sign-up period for next year runs Nov. 15 through Feb. 15, 2015. But special enrollment is open year-round to people who have a significant life event, such as a divorce, job loss or moving.
The law requires most Americans to buy health insurance unless they fall below a certain income level or qualify for other exemptions. Since most are insured by their employer, Medicare or Medicaid, the law mostly affected people who buy individual insurance.
Last year, North Carolina had about 435,000 people with individual insurance and more than 1 million without coverage who were eligible under the Affordable Care Act.
Under the law, failure to enroll carries a fine – $95 per uninsured person or 1 percent of household income in the first year – that will be taken out of tax returns.
The new law bars insurance practices that had been common for years, such as rejecting applicants with preexisting conditions, charging women more than men, or charging older applicants more than three times as much as younger applicants.
Young enrollees key
Federal data issued Thursday show that 28 percent of North Carolina’s enrollees are 18 to 34 years old, the coveted demographic that is considered essential to the law’s success. The national average for that age bracket was also 28 percent, ranging from 45 percent in the District of Columbia to 19 percent in West Virginia.
Blue Cross officials have warned in recent months that early indications suggest that North Carolina enrollments are tilting toward unhealthy patients who are driving up health care costs.
Adam Linker, a health policy expert with the N.C. Justice Center, said the surprisingly high enrollment totals for the state probably mean that Blue Cross won’t be flooded with sickly and costly applicants.
“The younger and healthier people probably enrolled late,” Linker said. “So we’ll see a much stabler, larger insurance pool than Blue Cross expected.”
The federal data show that North Carolina has one of the nation’s highest rates of enrollments for subsidized insurance. Whereas 85 percent of national enrollments were subsidized, North Carolina’s subsidization rate is 91 percent, tying Wisconsin and Florida.
Only Wyoming and Idaho had higher subsidization rates, 93 percent and 92 percent respectively.
North Carolina’s heavy subsidization for health insurance is attributed to the state’s enrollment activities being coordinated by social service nonprofits, such as Legal Aid Society, Alcohol and Drug Council, CapitalCare Collaborative, and CommunityCare of North Carolina, which provide services to low-income clients.
“The assumption is that people who are applying for this insurance are largely uninsured,” said Nyi Myint, navigator program coordinator at the Alcohol and Drug Council in Durham.
May 2, 2014 at 11:26 am
TP Wohlford says:
1. I was counted in that number. BCBS simply killed my old plan (no, I can't keep my plan) and rolled me over into one that I can't afford. Never made a payment 'cause I couldn't.
2. That "Subsidy" isn't a "Subsidy." It is a LOAN against a TAX CREDIT. And it is entirely possible that, come next April 15, many people will owe THOUSANDS in overpaid "subsidy." You don't mention that one. And yes, I know that your news room and editorial office knows about this one. Betting you're waiting for Obama to fix it before you discuss it. Or at least until after the election.
3. Due to the disconnect over Medicaid expansion, the unemployed aren't covered in any greater numbers than before. Since 40% of those uninsured are that way due to job changes, I fail to see how that number does anything but get worse with the death of the cheap catastrophic plans.
May 2, 2014 at 10:48 pm
Norm Kelly says:
It means that the numbers touted by both this editorial and the demon party/socialists hell-bent on taking over the medical industry ARE COMPLETELY BOGUS. These numbers are MADE UP out of thin air!
How many people have signed up for socialized medicine? 8 Million. Except the number does NOT reflect those who have taken the final step and made a purchase. They've signed up but not paid. So they haven't purchased ANYTHING! So why are they counted? Because the libs need even bogus numbers to make the plan look like it's a success. They don't care that the numbers are bogus because the whole/entire plan was a scam from the beginning.
Telling the same lie often enough, loud enough, in enough places, and suddenly people who are ill-informed start to believe the lie. Funny how things work out for the demons when they rely on people not paying attention. Now go back to your reality show.
'emboldening critics to declare the Affordable Care Act a failure.'. No, it wasn't that the website was a failure that caused us to declare this. It wasn't that the deadline was delayed. It wasn't any one thing that caused critics to declare that socialized medicine is a failure. We declared that it's a failure because it is. If it isn't a colossal failure, why has the occupier changed it's enforcement so many times? If its not a failure, why were so many waivers provided? If it isn't a failure, why have so few people actually purchased? If it isn't a colossal failure, why were demon politicians so quick to lie so often to the public to get it passed? If it isn't an outstanding failure, why were so many forced off the policy of their choosing? When these unfortunate souls who had purchase sub-par insurance were finally able to get on the government dole (i mean obamacare), then why are their premiums and deductibles higher?
'the law mostly affected people who buy individual insurance'. That is until the corporate mandate is allowed to kick in. Or will there be another delay in this? Oh, wait. No need to delay again. The midterm elections will be over by the time the delay kicks in and starts negatively affecting those insured through a job. Companies have already started making changes or telling employees about changes BECAUSE OF OBAMACANCER!
The economy grew during the first quarter of 2014 at a meager 1 tenth of 1 percent, represented in numbers as 1/10%. So, demons, how is your economic plan working out for US? I know it's concentrating power in Washington, but is it doing anything good for the people? Theoretically, concentrating power in Washington is good for the demon party, but it's also unConstitutional! And it's NOT good for us, the citizens. If obamacancer were actually good for the country, would the economy have grown at 1/10%?
Of those 435,00 NC who had private insurance, how many of them were forcibly cancelled by obamacancer? Should any of these forcibly cancelled insureds be counted in the total who have succumbed to socialized medicine? Well, no, of course not. But have they been in order to bolster obamascare numbers? More than likely. Cuz the numbers have been cooked in every other way, so why not this way?
'The assumption is'. That's a heck of a way to start a sentence. The facts are that everything about obamacancer, everything written in this editorial, and everything coming from Washington as it concerns socialized medicine IS AN ASSUMPTION. There are no facts to go on yet. And the facts that we do have are striking and should be concerning. As many as 93% of the people who haven't yet purchased obamascare could be subsidized, if they ever make the purchase. 91% here in NC. That's supposed to encourage me? For what reason? How much of a burden is that going to be on those who actually pay? Someone, somewhere MUST PAY these premiums! Take your collective heads OUT OF THE SAND and start thinking! How does this math work? It DOES NOT! (btw: i used 'collective heads' on purpose cuz libs do everything in a collective and it's the libs with their heads buried, so it seemed appropriate!) If '85 percent of national enrollments were subsidized', that means only 15% of those paying for premiums are paying not only their premiums, but subsidizing the other 85% (average). How does this work out? It must be the new math, that only libs understand. I guess when you are taught that 2+2=5 might be right, then 15% paying for 85% probably works out also.
But wait, I think that comes to the other big lie told by demons in Washington. Not only would the average family's premium drop by about $2,500 per year, but socialized medicine would be debt-nuetral. Passing socialized medicine, the libs told us, would not cause the debt to rise, it would actually help lower the debt. Just another lie, don't worry about it. Move along. There's no here here. Or is it there, there? Either way, it's another lib lie.
