Enrollment in Covered California health care plans doubled in November, officials said, with 78,377 people signing up for coverage. The total number of enrollments as of Dec. 7 was put at 156,143.
For October and November, the first two months of operation, the state Obamacare operation saw 109,296 individuals enroll in Covered California plans.
California appears to account for a third of the sign-ups nationally under the Affordable Care Act.
Figures for the first week of December showed enrollments were rising significantly, as the first private insurance sign-up deadline of Dec. 23 approaches. Phone-call wait times for Covered California service center help have been rising significantly as well, the state insurance marketplace reported.
The first week of December saw an average of 20,600 applications for individual coverage completed per day, Covered California reported.
“Enrollments and applications are surging, and we at Covered California — and our partners — are stepping up our game to meet the demand,” executive director Peter Lee said.
For Medi-Cal, 108,000 people were “determined to be likely eligible” in November, Covered California said. For the two-month period, the Medi-Cal number was 179,000. (Medi-Cal is the state’s Medicaid program.)
The closely watched numbers for age groups showed that about 22 percent of those enrolled were in the important 18-34-year-old demographic. To no one’s surprise, consumers ages 45 to 64 accounted for 58 percent of enrollees.
Of the 109,296 enrollments in individual health care insurance, the clear majority, 93,813, were eligible for subsidies. People who show too much income for the subsidies can buy insurance through Covered California — and 15,483 did — or directly from health care providers.
The total number of applications initiated in October and November was 431,756, with 244,021 completed.
Anthem Blue Cross again drew the most consumers, with almost 30 percent of the sign-up pie. Blue Shield took about 27 percent while Kaiser Permanente had almost 24 percent.
For subsidy-eligible buyers of Covered California insurance, the silver “metal tier” was by far the most popular, with 67 percent. For non-subsidy purchases, bronze took 30 percent with silver at 27 percent.
Another important metric is the percentage of enrollees who identify themselves as Spanish-language speakers. That’s 29 percent of Californians, but only 4.6 percent of those who’ve signed up for coverage. Latinos have been heavily targeted in Covered California marketing. “That’s an area where we need to do more,” Covered California chief Lee says.
Federal officials said Dec. 11 that 107,087 people had selected a health care plan in November through the Covered California web site, with the state leading the nation. (The state and federal accounting periods are slightly different.) About 365,000 people nationwide had picked their plans. New York saw 45,513 completions, while Florida logged 17,908. The state of Washington saw 17,770 and Texas had 14,038.
Open enrollment for 2014 continues through March. The Dec. 23 deadline for Jan. 1 coverage reflects an extension of the original Dec. 15 deadline. On Dec. 12, the Obama administration encouraged health insurers to accept late and partial payments in January due to problems with the federal private health insurance web site, HealthCare.gov.
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