Juliette Mullin, EditorWhen outlining its expectations for the ACA last year, HHS said it hoped that seven million Americans would enroll in coverage by March, and that 40% of those Americans would be young adults. This was important for two reasons: (1) Young adults are critical to balance out the insurance risk pool; and (2) young adults account for about 40% of uninsured Americans.
How will expansion affect the rates in each state?
Using Harvard estimates and Advisory Board research, we've mapped out the expected uninsured rates in each state after the 2014.
Check out this blog post explaining the method behind the map, and click here to expand the map.
Some parts of the country are seeing high rates of young enrollees. (In the District of Columba, for example, 44% of enrollees are young adults.) But overall, the rate of young enrollees is significantly lower than the White House and health industry had hoped for, with fewer than 25% of enrollees being between the key ages of 18 and 34.
But all hope is not lost. As Washington Post's Sarah Kliff points out, the current age breakdown is not so different from the age breakdown for early enrollment when Massachusetts expanded insurance coverage in 2006. The Northeastern state saw young adult enrollment increase later in the open enrollment period.
Most new enrollees buy silver plans
In addition to age breakdown, the latest data show that most customers (60%) in the exchanges bought a Silver Plan, the second tier of commercial coverage options. Meanwhile, only 20% selected a Bronze plan, the lowest level of coverage.
The data also show that the vast majority of new enrollees—79% to be precise—obtained subsidies to purchase coverage. And 1.6 million Americans had a Medicaid determination or assessment through an exchange in 2013.
Are you ready for your new patients?
Being ready for health insurance exchanges will be the difference between 24 million challenges and 24 million opportunities.
Watch this video now for three ways to prepare for the exchange tsunami.