Arizona Enrollment YOY Plus National Stats – OEP Sign Up Extended

National enrollment for 2020 health plans on HealthCare.gov totaled 8.3 million for the open enrollment period ending on Dec. 15. But this year because some consumers attempting to enroll during the final hours experienced issues, the deadline for sign up was extended until 3 a.m. EST Dec. 18.

This year, shoppers seeking health insurance Jan. 1 faced a market climate offering alternative short-term offerings along with reduced navigator support to help consumers judge the best options. Even under such conditions, Arizona reported 153,570 individual plan selections. Last year, a total of 160,456 Arizonans purchased health insurance on HealthCare.gov at the end of the enrollment period.

Enrollment numbers for Arizona declined by nearly 4.3 percent compared to 2019 OEP, but Arizonans did a majority of their healthcare shopping during the last week of OEP, considering enrollment was down a staggering 17 percent for the state on Dec. 13 with only 60,000 plans selected.

CMS released week seven results after it extended OEP a few extra days following a Dec. 15 call center volume surge of more than 500,000, some consumers were even asked to leave their name at the call center. Shoppers who left their contact information at the call center will receive a call back this week.

CMS’s primary goal is to provide a seamless Open Enrollment experience for HealthCare.gov consumers and ensure that those Americans who want coverage offered through the Exchange can enroll in a plan.This additional time will give consumers the opportunity to come back and complete their enrollment for January 1 coverage.

The final week of OEP always drives plan selections higher as people already on an ACA compliant plan who have not switched to a new carrier are auto-enrolled.

Overall, 2020 sign-ups for insurance plans fell by about 200,000, continuing a pattern of decline from the preceding year which came in at 4 percent below 2018 OEP.

CMS is to release a more recent snapshot, including extended enrollments, during the second week of January, according to the agency.

Check out Reuters for more on the final week of enrollment, and also view CMS’ most recent update here.

Read more about the OEP extension from NPR.

Get CMS’ week seven enrollment report here.

To read reporting by Arizona Central, including whether Arizona’s enrollment was impacted by the public charge rule from the Trump Administration, click here.