NY State of Health says 48,000 have enrolled

The New York State Department of Health on Tuesday, Nov. 12, announced that more than 48,000 New Yorkers have enrolled in health plans through NY State of Health (NYSOH) since Oct. 1.

NY State of Health is New York’s health-insurance exchange or marketplace.

Additionally, about 197,000 New Yorkers have completed the application process and been determined eligible for low-cost, health-insurance plans, the department said in a news release.

Those who have finished applications need to choose the plan in which they want to enroll. About 88 percent of those determined eligible are qualified for private insurance plans, the Health Department said.

Additionally, the state’s customer-service center operators have provided assistance to more than 142,000 New Yorkers since Oct. 1, the department said.

 “We are very pleased to see these results, which show that tens of thousands of individuals across the state are turning to nystateofhealth.ny.gov to access low-cost health insurance.” Donna Frescatore, executive director of NY State of Health, said in the news release.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) reported on Wednesday that more than 106,000 Americans have signed up for health-insurance coverage, but not necessarily paid for the coverage.

The department said more than 79,000 of those people signed up through state-based exchanges, such as NY State of Health, while the other 27,000 signed up on the federal exchange.

The HHS numbers, which are through Nov. 2, show that New York’s health exchange had 16,404 people who selected a health-insurance plan, while an additional 23,902 were determined eligible for Medicaid or another government plan.

The rates for the health plans on NYSOH represent a 53 percent reduction compared to the previous year’s individual rates, the state Health Department said.

In addition to this cost-savings, it is estimated that nearly three-quarters of individual enrollees will qualify for financial assistance.

Plans offered on NYSOH are available in four metal tiers, including platinum, gold, silver, and bronze, from 16 insurers and 10 dental insurers, the state said.

Nearly 500 in-person assistors/navigators have been trained and are providing enrollment assistance in all 62 counties and in a total of 48 languages, according to the department.

New Yorkers have until March 31 to enroll. The first round of coverage begins Jan. 1. To be covered by Jan. 1, New Yorkers must enroll by Dec 15, the state said.

The small-business marketplace offers small businesses with 50 or fewer employees a “range of options” to meet their needs, the state said.

Small businesses can access advice and enroll on NYSOH either online at https://nystateofhealth.ny.gov/employer, by calling toll-free at 1-855-355-5777, or by contacting an insurance broker.

More than 2,300 brokers have received training through the state, the department said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com