8.8 million Americans have signed up for coverage through HealthCare.gov since Open Enrollment began on November 1st. This compares to about 8.6 million plan selections last year at this time, demonstrating Americans’ strong and growing demand for affordable, quality coverage. Total plan selections as of December 31st, which include auto reenrollments, consist of 2.2 million new consumers and 6.6 million returning consumers. Among returning consumers, two thirds, or 4.4 million, actively selected a plan, an increase from last year’s already high levels of consumer engagement.
“With 8.8 million Americans signed up for coverage through HealthCare.gov, more than last year at this time, it is clear that Americans want and need this vital coverage,” said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell. “As we enter the New Year, Americans who are still uninsured should sign up by January 15th to have coverage starting February 1.”
Today’s report covers the period from December 18 through December 31, 2016. This snapshot does not include plan selections from the 12 State-Based Marketplaces that use their own enrollment platforms. Those numbers will be included in the upcoming Mid-Open Enrollment report.
As in past years, enrollment weeks are measured Sunday through Saturday. Since this year Open Enrollment began on a Tuesday, the totals reported in this snapshot reflect two fewer days than last year’s Week 9 snapshot, yet still 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 does not report the number of consumers who have paid premiums to effectuate their enrollment.
Definitions and details on the data are included in the glossary.
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 9
Cumulative Plan Selections
Nov 1 – Dec 31
Alabama
166,830
Alaska
18,064
Arizona
182,881
Arkansas
66,072
Delaware
26,750
Florida
1,641,714
Georgia
482,445
Hawaii
17,447
Illinois
351,175
Indiana
167,868
Iowa
52,281
Kansas
95,664
Kentucky
70,542
Louisiana
150,826
Maine
77,327
Michigan
308,693
Mississippi
79,342
Missouri
249,732
Montana
52,120
Nebraska
85,282
Nevada
85,640
New Hampshire
50,966
New Jersey
273,210
New Mexico
50,683
North Carolina
534,293
North Dakota
20,774
Ohio
230,254
Oklahoma
140,742
Oregon
148,836
Pennsylvania
413,760
South Carolina
212,427
South Dakota
27,909
Tennessee
234,222
Texas
1,119,994
Utah
186,093
Virginia
399,106
West Virginia
32,855
Wisconsin
233,957
Wyoming
23,579
Federal Marketplace Snapshot
Federal Marketplace Snapshot
Weeks 8 and 9
Dec 18 – Dec 31
Cumulative
Nov 1 – Dec 31
Plan Selections (net)
2,658,210
8,762,355
New Consumers
285,362
2,205,244
Renewing Consumers
2,372,848
6,557,111
Consumers on Applications Submitted
2,445,591
11,019,382
Call Center Volume
1,652,130
8,819,983
Calls with Spanish Speaking Representative
102,731
538,200
HealthCare.gov Users
3,704,762
20,122,698
CuidadoDeSalud.gov Users
123,964
685,847
Window Shopping HealthCare.gov Users
296,955
3,567,621
Window Shopping CuidadoDeSalud.gov Users
5,542
58,110
HealthCare.gov Local Area Snapshot
The Week 9 snapshot includes a look at plan selection by top Designated Market Areas (DMAs) which are local media markets. This data provides another level of detail to better understand total plan selections within local communities. Some DMAs include one or more counties in a state that is not using the HealthCare.gov platform for 2017. Plan selections for those DMAs only include data for the portion of the DMA that is using the HealthCare.gov platform, so the amounts reported in the snapshot do not represent plan selections for the entire DMA. However, in cases where a DMA includes portions of multiple states but all of those states use the HealthCare.gov platform, the reported amounts reflect the whole DMA. Because not all DMAs are listed in the table, the amounts reported for local markets will not sum to the national total. Later in the Open Enrollment period we will be reporting enrollments for all DMAs.
Local Markets in HealthCare.gov States
State
Cumulative Plan Selections
Nov 1 – Dec 31
Atlanta
Georgia
365,940
Austin
Texas
107,502
Charlotte
North Carolina
179,861
Chicago
Illinois
276,740
Dallas-Ft. Worth
Texas
316,713
Detroit
Michigan
155,477
Ft. Myers-Naples
Florida
93,298
Greensboro-H. Point-W.Salem
North Carolina
91,700
Greenvll-Spart-Ashevll-And
North Carolina
111,644
Harlingen-Wslco-Brnsvl-Mca
Texas
49,860
Houston
Texas
327,109
Jacksonville
Florida
93,693
Kansas City
Kansas/Missouri
96,358
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale
Florida
596,120
Milwaukee
Wisconsin
90,386
Mobile-Pensacola (Ft Walt)
Alabama
60,461
Nashville
Tennessee
99,482
New York/Northern New Jersey
New York/New Jersey
214,105
Norfolk-Portsmth-Newpt News
Virginia
74,401
Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbrn
Florida
314,287
Philadelphia
Pennsylvania
271,736
Phoenix (Prescott)
Arizona
146,177
Portland
Oregon
98,344
Raleigh-Durham (Fayetteville)
North Carolina
145,810
Salt Lake City
Utah
186,104
San Antonio
Texas
101,346
St. Louis
Missouri
122,369
Tampa-St. Pete (Sarasota)
Florida
278,159
Washington, DC (Hagerstown)
Virginia/Maryland/District of Columbia
177,546
West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce
Florida
183,605
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.
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 selected the same plan or a new plan for 2017, were automatically re-enrolled into their plan, or were signed up for January 1 coverage through a suggested alternate plan.
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 with Marketplaces that use the HealthCare.gov platform for the 2017 benefit year, including those with Federally-facilitated Marketplaces, 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.