Biweekly Enrollment Snapshot

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 30, 2016 Contact: CMS Media Relations (202) 690-6145 | CMS Media Inquiries   Biweekly Enrollment Snapshot WEEKS 3 AND 4, NOV 13 – 26, 2016 Four weeks into Open Enrollment, millions of Americans continue to visit HealthCare.gov and sign up for Marketplace plans, demonstrating the strong demand for quality, affordable coverage.  Over 2.1 million people have selected plans using the HealthCare.gov platform since Open Enrollment began on November 1, including over half a million new consumers and 1.6 million consumers renewing their coverage. Enrollments for these two weeks represent an increase of 167,000 plan selections versus the third and fourth weeks of Open Enrollment last year. In addition, the total number of plan selections at this point exceeds last year by over 97,000, even though this year’s totals include two fewer days. In addition to national data, this snapshot includes state-by-state plan selection estimates for those states using HealthCare.gov. “With plans available for less than $75 per month in premiums, 2.1 million Americans have already selected coverage through HealthCare.gov, more than had signed up at this time last year,” said Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell. “I hear from people across the country just how much coverage matters to them, so I continue to encourage all Americans who need health insurance for 2017 to visit HealthCare.gov and check out their options. Consumers should be sure to enroll by December 15th for coverage that starts January 1st.” As in past years, enrollment weeks are measured Sunday through Saturday. Since this year Open Enrollment began on a Tuesday, the cumulative totals reported in this snapshot reflect two fewer days than last year’s Week 4 snapshot, yet enrollment exceeds last year’s total. Every two weeks during Open Enrollment, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will release enrollment snapshots for the HealthCare.gov platform, which is used by the Federally-facilitated Marketplaces and State Partnership Marketplaces, as well as some State-based Marketplaces. These snapshots provide point-in-time estimates of biweekly plan selections, call center activity, and visits to HealthCare.gov or CuidadoDeSalud.gov. The final number of plan selections associated with enrollment activity during a reporting period may change as plan modifications or cancellations occur, such as due to life changes like starting a new job or getting married. In addition, as in previous years, the biweekly snapshot only reports new plan selections, active plan renewals and, starting at the end of December, auto-renewals; it does not report the number of consumers who have paid premiums to effectuate their enrollment. Later in the Open Enrollment period, HHS will produce more detailed reports that look at plan selections across the Marketplace, including both states using the HealthCare.gov platform and State-based Marketplaces using their own enrollment platforms. Definitions and details on the data are included in the glossary. Federal Marketplace Snapshot Federal Marketplace Snapshot Weeks 3 and 4 Nov 13 - 26 Cumulative Nov 1 – Nov 26 Plan Selections (net) 1,129,499 2,137,717 New Consumers 273,059 519,492 Consumers Renewing Coverage 856,440 1,618,225 Consumers on Applications Submitted 1,804,840 3,862,599 Call Center Volume 1,297,952 2,545,851 Calls with Spanish Speaking Representative 85,516 172,642 HealthCare.gov Users 4,226,761 8,040,513 CuidadoDeSalud.gov Users 137,566 253,634 Window Shopping HealthCare.gov Users 562,007 1,681,789 Window Shopping CuidadoDeSalud.gov Users 10,223 23,931   HealthCare.gov State-by-State Snapshot Consumers across the country continued to explore their health insurance options by reaching out to a call center representative at 1-800-318-2596, attending enrollment events in their local communities, or visiting HealthCare.gov or CuidadoDeSalud.gov. Individual plan selections for the states using the HealthCare.gov platform include:   Week 4 Cumulative Nov 1 – Nov 26 Alabama 48,509 Alaska 4,742 Arizona 38,222 Arkansas 13,826 Delaware 5,875 Florida 514,580 Georgia 106,905 Hawaii 4,726 Illinois 68,192 Indiana 33,707 Iowa 12,099 Kansas 24,778 Kentucky 20,276 Louisiana 25,863 Maine 15,653 Michigan 66,100 Mississippi 18,493 Missouri 61,615 Montana 12,395 Nebraska 23,096 Nevada 19,899 New Hampshire 10,554 New Jersey 65,215 New Mexico 12,071 North Carolina 134,049 North Dakota 4,635 Ohio 47,535 Oklahoma 31,803 Oregon 40,290 Pennsylvania 102,110 South Carolina 50,205 South Dakota 8,005 Tennessee 55,434 Texas 220,379 Utah 46,652 Virginia 92,136 West Virginia 7,876 Wisconsin 62,809 Wyoming 6,408 Glossary Plan Selections:  The cumulative metric represents the total number of people who have submitted an application and selected a plan, net of any cancellations from a consumer or cancellations from an insurer that have occurred to date. The biweekly metric represents the net change in the number of non-cancelled plan sections over the two-week period covered by the report. Plan selections will include those consumers who are automatically re-enrolled into a plan, 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 report the number of effectuated enrollments. New Consumers: A consumer is considered to be a new consumer if they did not have Marketplace coverage at the start of Open Enrollment on November 1st, 2016. Renewing Consumers: A consumer is considered to be a renewing consumer if they had 2016 Marketplace coverage on November 1st, 2016 at the start of Open Enrollment and either actively select the same plan or a new plan for 2017 or are automatically re-enrolled into a plan, which occurs at the end of December. Marketplace: Generally, references to the Health Insurance Marketplace in this report refer to 39 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, Kentucky, 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 39 states that use the HealthCare.gov platform for the 2017 benefit year, including the Federally-facilitated Marketplace, State Partnership Marketplaces and State-based Marketplaces. Consumers on Applications Submitted:  This includes consumers who are requesting coverage on a completed and submitted application, including an application that is created through the automatic re-enrollment process, which occurs at the end of December, in a state that is 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 requesting coverage on a submitted application (rather than the total number of submitted applications). Call Center Volume:  The total number of calls received by the call center for the 39 states that use the HealthCare.gov platform over the course of the weeks 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. 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 user total. ### Get CMS news at cms.gov/newsroom, sign up for CMS news via email and follow CMS on Twitter @CMSgovPress