Baker-Polito Administration Announces Health Connector Completes Successful Open Enrollment with Highest-Ever Membership, Covering 282,000 People with Health Insurance

Baker-Polito Administration Announces Health Connector Completes Successful Open Enrollment with Highest-Ever Membership, Covering 282,000 People with Health Insurance

Encourages small business to consider Health Connector for Business to save money on premiums, and offer plan and coverage choice to employees.

BOSTON – Governor Baker announced today that the Massachusetts Health Connector completed Open Enrollment with the highest membership in the 13-year history of the state’s health insurance exchange, covering 282,000 people with health insurance.

“The Health Connector just completed its most successful Open Enrollment since the start of the Affordable Care Act, signing up more than 65,000 new people with health insurance coverage,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “Massachusetts leads the way with the best insured rate in the country, with over 97 percent of our residents covered due in part to the Health Connector’s strong efforts to create a culture of coverage in the Commonwealth.”

“The Health Connector plays an important role in ensuring communities across the Commonwealth have access to affordable, high-quality health care,” saidLieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. “Over the last four years, the Connector has worked tirelessly to transform the exchange into a functional and reliable service as is evident by its current milestone enrollment figures.” 

The Health Connector held Open Enrollment from Nov. 1-Jan. 23, twice as long as the federal government’s Nov. 1-Dec. 15 open period, to ensure Massachusetts residents had as much time as possible to shop for affordable coverage. Throughout Open Enrollment, Massachusetts residents were encouraged to get covered or stay covered, to provide security for their health and financial well-being, and comply with the state’s individual mandate.  Assistance was available through community based health Navigators around the state.

“Massachusetts shines as a model for the rest of the nation when it comes to getting people enrolled in health insurance–and maintaining coverage,” saidHealth and Human Services Secretary and Connector Board Chair Marylou Sudders. “That success is built off outreach and education efforts that effectively and efficiently target the state’s under-insured communities and get more people covered.  This year the Connector made inroads in these tough-to-reach uninsured groups.”

As of March 1, 282,114 people were enrolled in health insurance, including 209,973 people in the ConnectorCare program. Through the state’s innovative affordability program, ConnectorCare, state subsidies are made available on top of federal tax credits, resulting in lower premium costs for members – including $0 premiums for the lowest-income enrollees – while also offering zero dollar or low co-pays and no deductibles. Overall, Health Connector membership rose 13 percent, compared to a 4 percent enrollment decrease through the federal Healthcare.gov platform.  In addition, 18,000 individuals receive dental insurance through the Connector.

“With stable operations and a clear message to get covered and stay covered, this was our most successful Open Enrollment to date, with high retention rates and strong new enrollment,” said Louis Gutierrez, the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Health Connector. “We are going to keep working to ensure that everyone in Massachusetts is covered.”

Open Enrollment for Individuals

The Health Connector placed extra focus on outreach and public education about affordable coverage options in communities with higher rates of uninsurance and worked to raise public awareness about coverage generally. At the close of Open Enrollment, the Health Connector had enrolled more than 65,000 people who did not have Health Connector coverage at the start of Open Enrollment, about 22 percent more than last year. Nearly half of the new enrollments came from 21 communities targeted as under-insured through a data-driven strategy that included grassroots and creative enrollment and public awareness raising activities.

In a survey of more than 2,000 new members, more members who had been uninsured for significant periods signed up for 2019 coverage. In 2017, 20.2 percent of respondents said they were uninsured for six months or longer, and in 2019, 21.8 percent said they were uninsured at least six months.

The Health Connector finished Open Enrollment with a retention rate of 89.7 percent, about 2.7 percent higher than last year’s retention rate. Throughout Open Enrollment, the Health Connector engaged in a public social media campaign encouraging residents to #StayCovered, highlighting the continuing requirement that residents have health coverage that meets state standards, even as the federal individual mandate penalties end for 2019.

With stable premiums for 2019 (building off the Health Connector’s success of having the lowest exchange rates in the country in 2018, according to data from the federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services), fewer renewing members switched plans in 2019, resulting in a stable membership experience moving into the new year.

Health Connector for Business

In response to the increasing costs of insurance for small businesses, the Health Connector reshaped its small-business platform last year to offer highly competitive, high quality and low cost health insurance coverage for companies with less than 50 employees.  The Health Connector for Business currently helps 1,300 small businesses save money on premiums by offering health plan and coverage options to their employees.  Currently nine health plans and more than 50 plan options are available for April coverage.  Small businesses can compare premiums and save on average 20 percent than they might otherwise pay.

Additionally, small businesses can earn a rebate through the Connector’s newConnectWell program, an online-based wellness program.   The program offers employers a chance to save money while their employees improve their health and wellness.  Employers can save up to 15% on the amount they contribute toward employees’ health insurance premiums if one-third of their employees’ successfully complete one of the program’s qualifying wellness activities. The average ConnectWell rebate for a business is $4,880. Employees enrolled in their group’s health plan will also have the chance to earn a $100 reward when they complete a qualifying wellness activity.

The Health Connector currently serves more than 1,300 business and 300,000 individuals and small-employer members with health and dental insurance. Access to affordable health coverage for individuals and small businesses can be found at the Health Connector’s website, MAhealthconnector.org.