More than half of ACA marketplace enrollees are in states that refused to expand Medicaid

I have noted on multiple occasions that in states that refused the ACA Medicaid expansion, marketplace enrollment has been bolstered by a large contingent of people who "should have" been enrolled in Medicaid. That is, over 2 million marketplace enrollees in those 19 states have incomes between 100% and 138% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) -- incomes that would have qualified all of them except for certain legally present noncitizens for Medicaid had their states accepted the expansion.

To review a few facts about these low income enrollees:

• In nonexpansion states, 36% of enrollees had incomes in the 100-138% FPL range. In mid-2016 that came to about 2.1 million enrollees.


• Close to 90% (or more*) of those low-income enrollees selected silver plans and so accessed Cost Sharing Reduction (CSR) subsidies that raised the actuarial value of their plans to 94%. That generally translates to a deductible of $0-250.


• Customer satisfaction in the ACA marketplace is much higher among enrollees who are not in high deductible plans (defined by survey conductor Kaiser as under $1500 for an individual). In Kaiser's 2016 tracking survey, 74% of enrollees in lower deductible plans rated their plans good or excellent, vs. 59% of those in higher deductible plans. And again, the vast majority of enrollees in the 100-138% FPL range are in low deductible plans.

All that said, a fact hiding in plain sight (to me, anyway) is the extent to which nonexpansion states are over-represented in the ACA marketplace. This is not surprising, since a third of enrollees in those states should have been eligible for Medicaid. Nonetheless, I find it rather startling, based on state-by-state data released by HHS in December, that as of the end of the first quarter of 2016, the 19 nonexpansion states contained:

• 38% of the U.S. population
• 53% of marketplace enrollees
• 56% of subsidized marketplace enrollees
• 60% of enrollees in plans with Cost Sharing Reduction

Here is the state data. I've added population as of 2014.

Enrollment and Population in 19 States that Refused the ACA Medicaid Expansion

Given the income distribution of enrollees in those states, it's doubtless also true that they contain a higher concentration of high-AV CSR enrollees than the expansion states -- that is, higher percentages of enrollees at AV 94% and lower percentages at AV 73%. I'm not so sure about the middle range CSR, AV 87%, available to those with incomes in the 150-200% FPL range.

A few more facts re the lowest income marketplace enrollees, concentrated in nonexpansion states:

• Notwithstanding decent satisfaction ratings among low-income marketplace enrollees, Kaiser focus group results indicate that lower income ACA beneficiaries are more satisfied in and less confused by Medicaid than by marketplace coverage.


• The high percentage of low income enrollees in nonexpansion states raises the cost of  insurance. A CMS study found that premiums in states that accepted the ACA Medicaid expansion are 7% lower than in states that refused the expansion, when diverse other factors are controlled for.  In expansion states, eligibility for marketplace subsidies begins at 139% FPL, the cutoff for Medicaid eligibility. In nonexpansion states, marketplace subsidy eligibility begins at 100% FPL; those below that threshold are left out in the cold.


• The low-income marketplace enrollees who "should have been in Medicaid" would be particularly ill-served by Republican ACA replacement plans, such as Tom Price's and Paul Ryan's, that offer tax credits adjusted by age but not income in a deregulated market in which high deductible plans and HSAs figure prominently.

Poor states that did expand Medicaid, most notably Kentucky, Arkansas and West Virginia, massively cut the ranks of their uninsured (by more than half); the 19 nonexpansion states, less so. Nonetheless, thanks to high marketplace enrollment in the 100-138% FPL income band, low income people in nonexpansion states will suffer disproportionately should the ACA be repealed without income-appropriate replacement at low income levels.

---

* CMS stats reported last summer indicate that 87% of enrollees with incomes in the 0-150% FPL range selected silver plans. The ratio is probably higher in the 0-138% FPL range, as those up to that threshold pay just 2% of their income for a silver plan, as opposed to 3-4% in the 138-150% FPL range.