Washington, Idaho enrollments up from Obamacare

More people are signing up for health insurance than last year through Obamacare-based exchanges in Washington and Idaho.

Although the cost of some premiums is up and last week’s presidential election raises questions about the federal program’s future, about 12,000 people are enrolling through the Washington HealthPlanFinder each week, said Michael Marchand of the Health Benefit Exchange.

That’s ahead of 2015 for this year’s coverage and the forecasts for the coming year, although “not a ton,” Marchand said. About a fourth of those enrollees are new to the system, and about 145,000 enrollees of the 165,000 in qualified health plans this year are expected to automatically renew for 2017.

“We have so many people already enrolled. Our uninsured rate is about 6 percent,” Marchand said. That compares to a national rate that’s closer to 9 percent, according to the Associated Press.

Idaho had 94,824 residents who had selected a plan as of this week, said Karla Haun of Your Idaho Health. The majority of those are automatic renewals, but the system currently has about 14,000 more residents who have selected plans than at this time last year.

“We had a much stronger re-enrollment process this year,” Haun said.

The two states’ systems aren’t easy to compare. Washington accepts federal assistance to expand Medicaid and cover more people above the poverty level under the Affordable Care Act. Between standard Medicaid and the expanded version, Washington had nearly 1.7 million people enrolled in its Apple Health Program and the Children’s Health Insurance Program this year.

Idaho didn’t agree to accept federal funds to expand Medicaid; its Medicaid program is separate from its state insurance exchange, and serves only children, disabled people and the very poor.

Marchand cautioned that all enrollment numbers are “mushy” until several months after customers select a plan for themselves or their families because some people change their minds and switch plans. Some don’t pay their premiums when first due, are dropped and then reinstated when they pay.