Fact Sheets Apr 07, 2021

2021 Marketplace Special Enrollment Period Report

February 15 – March 31, 2021

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) report that over 528,000 Americans signed up for health insurance from the start of the 2021 Marketplace Special Enrollment Period (SEP) for consumers in HealthCare.gov States through March 31, including approximately 322,000 signups from March 1 to March 31.

The number of people signing up for health insurance from the start of the SEP opportunity on February 15 through March 31 represents a substantial increase from 2020 and 2019, when 209,000 and 171,000 consumers signed up for health insurance respectively.[1] In previous years, SEPs were available only for qualifying life events, whereas this year the Biden Administration opened a SEP to all Americans in response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.

Data suggest a more diverse set of American consumers are enrolling in health insurance coverage through the SEP. Of enrollees who identified a race from February 15 through March 31, 17% identified as Black, compared to about 11% during the same period in both 2020 and 2019. In addition, lower income Americans represent a larger percentage of new plan selections so far during the SEP compared to prior years. Among consumers requesting financial assistance, 41% have a household income between 100% and 138% of the federal poverty level, compared to 38% in 2020 and 33% in 2019.

Definitions and details on the data are included in the glossary at the end of the report.

Plan Selection and Application Activity

Feb. 15 - Mar. 31, 2021

New Plan Selections

528,005

New Consumers Requesting Coverage on an Application Submitted on or after February 15

1,022,917

Marketplace Eligible

871,483

Medicaid/CHIP Eligible

148,709

 

Call Center and Website Activity

Feb. 15 - Mar. 31, 2021

Call Center Volume

1,563,484

Calls with Spanish-Speaking Representative

207,660

HealthCare.gov Users

8,980,393

Window Shopping HealthCare.gov Users

465,433

CuidadoDeSalud.gov Users

391,366

Window Shopping CuidadoDeSalud.gov Users

21,486

 

New Plan Selections by State

Feb. 15 - Mar. 31, 2021

Feb. 15 - Mar. 31, 2020

Feb. 15 - Mar. 31, 2019

Alaska

1,164

373

382

Alabama

11,428

2,936

2,798

Arkansas

4,174

1,923

1,972

Arizona

9,569

4,116

3,765

Delaware

1,571

830

574

Florida

146,250

62,358

46,239

Georgia

40,098

11,192

8,845

Hawaii

1,238

625

543

Iowa

3,854

2,213

1,732

Illinois

14,496

7,757

7,459

Indiana

6,736

3,588

3,652

Kansas

4,988

2,184

1,857

Kentucky

4,280

3,149

2,735

Louisiana

4,565

2,367

2,462

Maine

2,616

1,373

1,193

Michigan

12,262

6,708

6,143

Missouri

12,692

4,099

3,750

Mississippi

7,505

1,943

1,711

Montana

1,767

1,300

856

North Carolina

32,577

10,161

9,257

North Dakota

1,260

573

573

Nebraska

3,610

1,971

1,918

New Hampshire

2,312

1,092

1,175

New Mexico

2,246

983

972

Ohio

11,675

6,091

4,884

Oklahoma

10,606

4,744

4,217

Oregon

5,447

3,965

3,657

South Carolina

15,666

3,769

3,226

South Dakota

1,809

663

648

Tennessee

14,804

4,870

3,429

Texas

98,082

32,230

21,577

Utah

10,954

4,969

4,640

Virginia

14,859

5,958

6,275

Wisconsin

8,193

5,252

5,107

West Virginia

1,066

544

552

Wyoming

1,586

560

584

 

Glossary

New Plan Selections: The number of unique consumers who didn’t have an active enrollment as of February 14, and made a plan selection on or after February 15, that is active as of the end of the reporting period. An active plan selection is one that is non-cancelled with an end date of December 31. While this plan selection metric is net of cancellations and terminations that occur during the reporting period, it doesn’t represent effectuated enrollments because reconciliation activity may continue in later periods.

HealthCare.gov States: This report refers to the 36 Marketplace states that use the HealthCare.gov platform for the 2021 coverage year. The 36 states for 2021include: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

New Consumers Requesting Coverage on an Application Submitted on or after February 15: The number of unique consumers who submitted an application and are requesting coverage on or after February 15, and didn’t have an active enrollment as of February 14. If determined eligible for Marketplace coverage, a consumer still needs to pick a health plan (i.e., plan selection) and pay their premium to have coverage (i.e., effectuate enrollment).

Marketplace Eligible: The number of unique new consumers requesting coverage on an application submitted on or after February 15 who are determined eligible to enroll in a Marketplace health plan, regardless of whether they applied for or are eligible for financial assistance.

Medicaid/CHIP Eligible: The number of unique new consumers requesting coverage on an application submitted on or after February 15 who are assessed or determined eligible for enrollment in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).[2]

Call Center Volume: The total number of calls received by the Marketplace call center, which supports HealthCare.gov, over the course of the reporting period. Calls with Spanish-speaking representatives aren’t included.

Calls with Spanish-Speaking Representative: The total number of calls received by the Marketplace call center, which supports HealthCare.gov, where consumers chose to speak with a Spanish-speaking representative over the course of the reporting period. These calls aren’t included in the Call Center Volume metric.

HealthCare.gov Users 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 the reporting period.

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 the reporting period. Users who window-shopped are also included in the HealthCare.gov or CuidadoDeSalud.gov user total.

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[1] New Jersey and Pennsylvania transitioned to a State-based Marketplace in 2020, and Nevada transitioned to a State-based Marketplace in 2019. Plan selections from these three states aren’t included in this report.

[2] Individuals are generally eligible for either a QHP or Medicaid/CHIP, but there are cases where a consumer is eligible for both types of coverage or neither. As a result, the eligibility breakouts do not sum to the total number of consumers requesting coverage on applications submitted.