Things aren't nearly as crazy as they were the final few days of March last spring, of course, but today was pretty busy; I spent part of the day on the phone with reporters from the New York Times, CNBC and so forth. Last year, the final (official) day, March 31st, fell on a Monday, so my phone was ringing off the hook that day. This year it fall on a Sunday, so between it being a weekend and the overall situation being calmer, I'm guessing that it won't be so nuts...it might be downright dull, in fact.
There was still a lot to deal with today, however, so here goes:
--One State, Two State, Red State, Blue State
In my latest exclusive for healthinsurance.org, I took a look at the red state/blue state enrollment divide...AND YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED NEXT!!
(apologies to Upworthy)
--Bad news in Arkansas, Surprising (Potentially Good) news in California
--Sidebar: Enrollment Period Follow-Up
--Minnesota: 49.2K QHPs, 91K Medicaid/MNCare ahead of final weekend
--Massachusetts: 125.6K QHPs, 241K Medicaid, DEADLINE EXTENDED DUE TO SNOWSTORMS
Maryland (exclusive): 107.5K QHPs, 132.4K Medicaid; 110-115K final??
Yup, I was provided an exclusive (to my knowledge) official enrollment update; the Maryland Health Connection planned on posting a formal press release today but never got around to it, so they gave me the raw numbers to get me off their backs, I suspect :)
Also, Maryland becomes the 9th state to officially pass my total QHP selection target. There are 15 other states confirmed to be "in the zone" (ie, at least 90% of the way to my targets).
--Kentucky has 99 Luft Balloons...er, 99K QHPs, 51.6K Medicaid
--District of Columbia: 20.3K QHPs, 44.4K Medicaid, 15.7K SHOP
--No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn: New York joins California & Massachusetts in announcing extension
3 states have already made official extension announcements. Massachusetts I was expecting (they're dealing with their 4th major snowstorm in only a few weeks); that's a full 8-day extension. California and New York are going the "Standing in Line" route...5 days for CA, 13 days for NY.
And finally, of course...THANKS, OBAMA!!