Why are the Republicans who run North Carolina failing so spectacularly to thwart enrollment in ObamaCare?
North Carolina’s enrollment in the Affordable Care Act federal insurance exchange reached a level in December that was surprising given the state’s prior poor performance in signing people up.
According to federal statistics released last week, North Carolina had 107,778 people signed up by Dec. 28, up from a total of only 8,970 who had signed up by the end of November.
That’s after North Carolina’s exchange became the object of national ridicule when the state had only a handful of signups for all of October.
And when one compares North Carolina’s total to those in similarly sized states that also use the federal exchange, the results show the state has had some of the most robust enrollment activity in the country.
North Carolina’s enrollment figure exceeded Ohio’s total of 39,955, even though the Buckeye State has a larger total population, ranking seventh in the nation to North Carolina’s 10th.
And North Carolina’s enrollment surpassed that of other larger states, including Michigan, which had 75,511 completed signups, and Illinois, which had 61,111.
Both of those Midwestern states, however, have lower rates of uninsured residents than North Carolina does.
I think the legislature better get their act together and start harassing the navigators and in-person assisters. That strategy appears to be working in many states.
In North Carolina, the Department of Health and Human Services is not coordinating any enrollment activities. But Schmidt said it’s helpful that state government is not blocking the efforts of those who are attempting to get people enrolled, as is happening in other states.
Georgia, for instance, required navigators and other insurance counselors to obtain separate certification and licensing beyond the federal requirements, according to Schmidt’s Georgia counterpart, Dante McKay, the Georgia state director of Enroll America.
“North Carolina got up and running quicker than Georgia did,’’ McKay said.
And states such as Missouri, Montana, Texas and Florida have also created roadblocks for insurance-exchange navigators, in some cases restricting what navigators can ask and say in helping people to enroll, having them pay extra fees or restricting where they can work.
According to a study released last week by researchers from George Washington University, “In states with restrictive policies toward ACA implementation, health centers are confronting significantly greater outreach and enrollment challenges.”
The study listed Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Missouri, Montana Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin as “restrictive states.” North Carolina had more than 56 percent of projected enrollees signed up for insurance; of the “restrictive” states, all but Maine had far lower percentages of eligible enrollees signing up.
It looks like that crazy governor up in Maine is seriously screwing up, too. Before he knows it, he’ll be presiding over a Soviet Socialist Republic.
It wasn’t for McCrory and pals lack of trying. There is an impressive network of people in North Carolina who have been helping people with patiently getting the online-paperwork done. Nurses and other health professionals through their local associations have gotten themselves trained, sometimes as official “navigators”, sometimes through informal training. Blue Cross/Blue Shield of NC, which has a big stake in the success of the program has been allowing those who know they want BCBS coverage to sign on directly and those counts get fed back into the totals. Case workers of a lot of agencies have been volunteering their time to get people enrolled even if their agency is not officially participating in the effort. And there is a lot of NC civil service employee culture that has swung into effect although the guys at the top are hostile.
But North Carolina did all they could possibly do to try to shut it down within the limited time that McCrory had after taking office.
It could very well be that some of the technical agreements that the Perdue HHS had with insurers were not as disrupted as they could have been had McCrory-Pope been in office since 2010.
In Illinois BCBS has been very aggressive, running commercials since the beginning of December advertising what appear to be Obamacare policies (i.e. “you may qualify for Federal subsidies”, “you cannot be turned down for pre-existing conditions even if you have been turned down in the past”). They invite you to apply through their website or their 800 number (“one toll-free phone call and we will handle all details”). Of course I’m sure their website only shows you BCBS policies for comparison, but OTOH I’m equally sure their website actually works. And yes, I agree with the R’s, Sibelius should be sacked for that totally incompetent job.
In the last week, Humana has also started running TV commercials. Both companies say you will be covered immediately if you pay your premium by (I think) the end of February or maybe March.
isn’t your wife volunteering with the signup? congrats to her as well!!!
North Carolina didn’t implement the Medicaid expansion. While health insurance is expensive, exchange insurance is decent and fairly priced, so some of the working poor who really need insurance and should have gotten if from Medicaid are probably figuring out ways to pay for it on the exchange.
North Carolina also has a fairly well organized resistance to the Republican takeover there, especially compared to the deep red states that nixed the expansion.
Even without medicaid expansion, that kind of embrace of obamacare is going to be a big deal in 2016 (and 2014, for that matter). People aren’t going to want to lose it.
Here locally, not NC, I’m noticing a building interest in groups forming to help each other navigate the enrollment. The kids are sitting at the dinner table with parents, aunts, uncles & cousins and helping each other. Unexpected but seems to be growing quickly.
I wonder if they’re sitting around in their pajamas and Buddy Holly glasses drinking cocoa… 😉
here in MN, I’ve seen art groups set up info sessions, among others. This kind of grassroots stuff is hard for even the most diabolical teabegger to thwart.
The kids know how to navigate the web and they probably enjoy showing off their prowess. Good for them.
very good to hear.
That is so cool. A national dialog on health care insurance fed by small conversations all over. For most there is new terminology to learn and a lot of careful comparison to be done. It is bound to bind a number of people to the only party that rolled this out.
This is going to be very interesting to watch in both 2014 and 2016 elections.
Whew! I’ve gotten 2 calls from parents who are realizing that their state is one of the ones not taking the ACA Medicaid expansion. Their kids, one 27 one 30, don’t make enough to file taxes and can’t get into Medicaid. A 3rd call last night came from a cousin in OR who is in same situation but was able to get Medicaid for her son.
Now, what we’ve talked about before, where the Medicaid signups are starting to spread the word, it’s going to get ugly.
The Republicans currently bad-mouthing “Obamacare” will suddenly begin singing the praises of the Affordable Care Act, and trying to take credit for all their previously uninsured constituents finally getting coverage. Running madly to the front of the parade, as it were, to act as though they’ve been leading it all along.
Look for the popular media talking chuckleheads to nod sagely as Republicans peddle this line of nonsense.
Their opposition has been so foaming-at-the-mouth rabid that even with the help of the “liberal” media they’re going to find it hard to pull off that trick in the required time frame.
I hope we run some candidates willing to say “Republicans hate you. They don’t want you to be healthy. They want you to be sick and poor, so they can hate you as much as they hate blacks, latinos, gays and women. They’re the party of hate, and it’s you that they hate most.”