Nov. 1-7, 2017 vs. Nov. 1-7, 2018
We are now a week into the 2019 Open Enrollment Period (OEP19) for ACA individual health insurance, and contrary to recent numbers released by the CMS, it appears that the demand for coverage is strong.
In fact, HealthSherpa saw large gains in enrollment volumes over the same first-week period last year. Here are highlights:
- Enrollments are up 23% year-over-year for Week 1 of OEP, from 26,711 in 2017 to 32,889 in 2018
- Gross plan premiums have declined 6% and net premiums (after subsidy) declining 23% — resulting in median net premiums of $31 per month for shoppers on HealthSherpa.
- There is a small increase in silver plan enrollment, which accounts for 73% of all enrollments.
- 55% of enrollments are by a female head of household, with an average of 1.44 enrollees per application.
- There is solid enrollment in red states, with Florida and Texas leading the way.
Year-Over-Year Change in Key Enrollment Metrics
- HealthSherpa Enrollment Volume: Up 23% (26,711 for 2017 vs. 32,889 for 2018)
- Total Call Volume: Up 15%
- Median Net Premium: Down 35% ($47.33 to $30.70)
- Median Gross Premium: Down 6% ($887.86 to $832.90)
- Median Subsidy: Down 4% ($762 to $735)
- Median Income: Up 10% ($22,000 from $20,000)
- Average Applicants Per Policy: Up 3% (1.44 from 1.39)
Notes From George Kalogeropoulos, HealthSherpa’s CEO
- Regarding data released from healthcare.gov on the first three days of enrollment: We can’t know for certain why or how their numbers are significantly lower than what the ones we have’ve seen at HealthSherpa — is it part of the Trump Administration’s narrative to undermine the ACA markets as some commentators suggest? Is it attributable to unplanned downtime on Healthcare.gov over the first several days? Is it just not an apples-to-apples comparison based on weekday vs. weekend volume? What we do know is that millions of Americans still qualify for quality, affordable coverage and seem to be buying it in greater numbers this year.
- Despite small hiccups on Day 1 (healthcare.gov was down for a short time throughout the day), consumer demand remained strong and led to significantly higher enrollment volume year-over-year through HealthSherpa.
- Health care was the major issue of the 2018 midterms and health care seems to be on individuals minds in the first week of November as well.
- The “health care voter” made themselves known — the top five enrollment states were those where the Medicaid Expansion of the ACA has not been adopted but candidates who supported the ACA preexisting conditions outperformed historic expectations this year: Florida, Texas, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia.
- More than 75% of HealthSherpa enrollees have a monthly premium, after subsidy, of less than $75.
- Brokers see the value of offering ACA coverage over short-term plans that aren’t good for consumers — HealthSherpa has more than 28,000 registered brokers on its site, as well as three of the five top insurers in the individual health insurance market.
Demographics and Plan Choices
Gender Distribution:
- Female head of household applicant: 56%
- Male head of household: 44%
Age Distribution:
- Under 21: 1%
- 21-29: 12%
- 30-39: 13%
- 40-49: 19%
- 50+: 55%
Plan Metal Level Distribution:
- Gold: 5%
- Silver: 73%
- Bronze: 22%
CSR Level Distribution:
- None: 17%
- Share73: 10%
- Share87: 18%
- Share94: 55%
Note to Media: Follow @GeorgeK_HS for ongoing data. Additionally, we can provide state, city, and zip-code level data for the categories shown in this document for healthcare.gov states where HealthSherpa offers ACA-subsidized policies.