April 2019 Newsletter

HIGHLIGHT

Final Enrollment Data Released for 2018

Top lines and our reactions are below:

  1. Nebraska largely maintained the number of plan selections overall from last year (87,416 vs 88,213) which is really good.
  2. There was a major dip in the number of new sign ups (23% negative change). Likely because of drop in outreach and marketing by the feds and continued disinformation.
  3. Out of pocket premium costs dropped from $119 to $36 per month on average – very good for Nebraskans.
  4. Almost 94% of people who signed up in NE received tax credits – the highest in the nation.

Find additional information within Nebraska Appleseed’s blog on CMS’s report. Also links to zip code, county, and state data and the final CMS report itself.

UPCOMING EVENTS

If you know about health care-related and/or outreach and enrollment events happening in your area, visit our events page and enter your event into our Submit An Event form.

EVENTS

Nebraska Legislative Session: Jan 9 – Jun 6
To keep up with bills and advocacy opportunities as they come up (including information on Medicaid Expansion, etc.), go to Nebraska Appleseed’s webpage HERE and sign up for “legislative updates.”

NEWS AND UPDATES

If you’d like more health-related news, we recommend Kaiser Health News to sign up for periodic email updates.

Washington Post: Federal judge rejects Trump’s health-care plan to go around Obamacare
A federal judge in Washington ruled late Thursday that the Trump administration’s push to make health insurance plans available outside the Affordable Care Act that avoid the requirements of the health-care law was illegal, calling the efforts “clearly an end-run around the ACA.”

Public News Service: Nebraska Critics Call for Expediting Medicaid Rollout
Health advocates are sounding the alarm over the slow pace of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services’ proposal for expanding Medicaid. Molly McCleery, the director for Nebraska Appleseed’s Health Care Program says the proposed October 1, 2020 rollout would be 23 months after voters approved expanded coverage.

RESOURCES

On special enrollment:

On Nebraska policy:

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