How do we know the ACA is working in Utah?

At UHPP we’ve decided to ignore the political theater that surrounds the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Instead, we’ve focused our energy on explaining how national health reform—including the ACA—is creating new coverage options here in Utah.

Do we follow the latest “repeal and replace” vote in the U.S. Congress? Not really. Instead, we analyze how monthly premiums for Utah families are changing between 2014 and 2015.

Are we concerned about “death panels” zapping Granny with ray guns? Nope. We want to know why ACA enrollment is surging in conservative cities like Lehi and St. George.

To illustrate the issues that we care about (and think are important for everyone else to know), we’ve compiled a list of ten facts about the ACA in Utah.

Unlike many of the myths cropping up on cable news or your crazy uncle’s Facebook page, we’ve backed up our facts with exact notations and web links where you can look it up yourself. After all, there’s no reason to scare or confuse you about health reform. The ACA is working in Utah, and these ten facts will show you how.

(Download the PDF version here)

#1) 140,612 Utahns are enrolled in health insurance purchased on healthcare.gov by February 22, 205, the end of the second open enrollment period.

#2) Between 2013 and 2014, Utah’s uninsured rate dropped from 15.6% to 13.3% ... a decline of 15%

#3) Meanwhile, the national uninsured rate dropped from 18% to 11.9% between 2013 and 2014, a 30% decline. In states with both expanded Medicaid and state-run marketplaces, uninsured rates dropped 4.8 points in 2013-14, compared to a 2.7-point drop in states with one or none of those conditions.

#4) Utah has six private insurance companies offering up to 101 insurance plans on Utah's marketplace

#5) In 2015 the fastest growing populous Utah counties for ACA enrollment are Washington, (+87%), Utah (+82%), and Davis (65%).

#6) The Utah cities containing ZIP codes with the highest ACA enrollment are South Jordan (84095), Lehi (84043), and St. George (84790)

#7) Children under age 18 account for 22% of all Utahns enrolling in ACA insurance—more than 2.5 times more than the national average of 8%.

#8) Between 2010 and 2013, the uninsured rate for Utahns aged 18-26 dropped from 29% to 18.4% after the ACA allowed parents to keep their young adult children on their own insurance

#9) The monthly premium for the benchmark Silver plan in Salt Lake County increased 2.8% between 2014 and 2015. The mean premium for the 40 Silver plans in Salt Lake County increased 3.7%. Both rates are far below the double-digit premium increases common before the ACA.

#10) Since 2012, Avenue H, Utah’s state-run small business marketplace, has doubled its enrollment to 12,879 covered lives and 612 employers.

(Bonus) The Congressional Budget office (CBO) calculated that the ACA will cost $200 billion, or 29% less from 2015-19 than they predicted in 2010.

(Download the PDF version here)

Sources:

(1) ASPE Issue Brief (3/10/15); Marketplace Plan Selection by Age in States Using the HealthCare.gov Platform, By State (1); 11-15-14 to 2-15-15 (including SEP activity through 2-22-15) (http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2015/MarketPlaceEnrollment/Mar2015/ib_2015mar_enrollment.pdf) 

(2) Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index (2/24/15) (http://www.gallup.com/poll/181664/arkansas-kentucky-improvement-uninsured-rates.aspx)

(3) Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index (4/12/15); (http://www.gallup.com/poll/182348/uninsured-rate-dips-first-quarter.aspx)

(4) www.healthcare.gov

(5) [2014] “Newly Covered by ACA Insurance,” Plan Selections by ZIP Code in the Health Insurance Marketplace, Sept. 2014, ASPE, HHS; (http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2014/MarketPlaceEnrollment/EnrollmentByZip/rpt_EnrollmentByZip.cfm); [2015] ASPE 2015 Health Insurance Marketplace Plan Selections by ZIP Code (Nov. 15, 2014-Feb. 22, 2015) (http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2015/MarketPlaceEnrollment/EnrollmentByZip/rpt_EnrollmentByZip_Apr2015.cfm) 

(6) ASPE 2015 Health Insurance Marketplace Plan Selections by ZIP Code (Nov. 15, 2014-Feb. 22, 2015) (http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2015/MarketPlaceEnrollment/EnrollmentByZip/rpt_EnrollmentByZip_Apr2015.cfm)  

(7) Health Insurance Marketplace 2015 Open Enrollment Period: January Enrollment Report (for the period 11/15/14 to 1/16/15), Page 28, (http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2015/MarketPlaceEnrollment/Jan2015/ib_2015jan_enrollment.pdf)

(8) Utah Dept. of Health Utah Healthcare Access Survey (UHAS), 2004-2008; Utah Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), 2009-2013, American Community Survey (ACS), 2011-2013

 Office of Public Health Assessment, Utah Department of Health (UHAS and BRFSS), U.S. Bureau of the Census (ACS) 

(9) [2014] https://https://insurance.utah.gov/health/Health%20Refrom/ACA_Rate_Individual_20131007_OnExchange.pdf; [2015] Utah – On Exchange Rates (accurate as of 10/15/14) https://insurance.utah.gov/health/Health%20Refrom/2015IndividualOnExchange20141016.pdf

(10) Source: UtahPulse.com; “Utah’s Avenue H Has Doubled Enrollment Numbers Since 2012,” April 7, 2015.  (http://www.utahpulse.com/index.php/features/business/2029-utah-s-avenue-h-has-doubled-enrollment-numbers-since-2012)

(Bonus) Insurance Coverage Provisions of the Affordable Care Act-CBO’s March 2015 Baseline; (https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/43900-2015-03-ACAtables.pdf); http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/03/09/future-obamacare-costs-keep-falling/