ACA enrollments decline for Harvey County

April 23--Enrollment in Affordable Care Act insurance plans is on the decline in Harvey County.

For the 2018 plan year, there were 998 enrollments in Harvey County, or 2.9 percent of county residents.

According to the Kansas Health Institute, enrollment has declined in Harvey County the past two years.

Data showed ,1048 enrollments, or three percent of residents, for the 2017 plan year. For the 2016 plan year, there were 1,080 enrollments, or 3.1 percent of residents. The latest numbers show a similar decline.

"Statewide there was a decrease," said Angie Schmidt, a health care navigator with Health Ministries of Harvey County. "... I think some of the people who have had historically been in the marketplace, some of them are transitioning from private insurance and getting to be Medicare age. There were a number of people I worked with last year who took early retirement, and they could not afford COBRA. They took the ACA care until they could get to medicare age. I think that is some of it, people going on Medicare. A large number of people I help are actually self employed. ... Some people were not doing this because they did not think they would be assessed a penalty if they did not enroll.""

Schmidt said some people moved out of the ACA plans when they found jobs with employers offering medical plans

Regionally the numbers have stayed fairly stable, and mirrored the trend in Harvey County, with the exception of Marion County. This year, Marion County saw a spike. Enrollments jumped to 877 residents, or 7.3 percent of the population, from 376 residents or 3.1 percent, in 2017.

"I don't know that I have helped any more people this year," said Gayla Ratzlaff with the Marion County Department on Aging, who helps residents find a sign up for a plan. "... That is an amazing jump, though."

Ratzlaff cannot point to any one thing that led to the increase in Marion County -- however, she did say that when she helped people file taxes the penalty levied for not having insurance was a motivator for people to buy insurance.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released final summary enrollment data on April 3, 2018, for the fifth open enrollment period of the federally facilitated health insurance marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The open enrollment period lasted from Nov. 1, 2017, to Dec. 15, 2017 (with a run-out period until Dec. 23, 2017). During that time, a total of 98,238 Kansans had selected a health insurance plan or had been automatically re-enrolled for the 2018 plan year through the marketplace. During that time, a total of 14,499 Kansans also selected a standalone dental insurance plan for 2018 through the marketplace. Information is not yet available on how many Kansans have paid their premiums and are actually covered by the insurance plans they selected (effectuated enrollment).

"With the presidential stuff, and changes, we were only one of two states that got 100 percent of the funding that we requested for the navigator," Schmidt said. "That paid some of those outreach costs for educating the public.

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