New Health Policy Brief: Reenrollment

Abstract

This year open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) began on November 15, allowing new customers to sign up for health insurance. Open enrollment also provided current policyholders the chance to change plans and request a redetermination on the amount of subsidy they received. During this second year of open enrollment for the ACA’s insurance Marketplaces, insurers and policy makers are working to keep last year’s enrollees in the system – and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) estimates that 95 percent of them are eligible for automatic renewal. A new policy brief from Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) examines the pros and cons of reenrollment options for consumers, whether they are using the federal Marketplace or live in states that operate their own exchanges. Automatic reenrollment means that almost seven million people already enrolled will not necessarily need to flood HealthCare.gov and exchanges during open enrollment. On the other hand, it also may discourage consumers from exploring alternative coverage that might better fit their needs and get a more accurate determination of eligibility for subsidies.