Strategic Planning & Timelines

With the recent release of data from the 2012 American Community Survey (ACS), SHADAC has created reports on state and county health insurance coverage estimates. Each state has an individualized report comparing 2011 coverage estimates with 2012 and examining coverage rates by age, race/ethnicity, citizenship status, education, work experience, and household income. There are several cross-state comparison reports available as well.

This annual survey of employers provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage, including premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing provisions, and other relevant information.  The 2013 survey included almost three thousand interviews with non-federal public and private firms. It found that annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached $16,351 this year, up 4 percent from last year, with workers on average paying $4,565 towards the cost of their coverage.

Young adults’ participation in the nation’s new insurance marketplaces is essential: as a healthier-than-average population, it allows for comprehensive health plans to be offered at affordable prices to all enrollees over time. There is concern that many young adults (ages 19–29) will remain without health insurance in 2014 despite the Affordable Care Act’s reforms, including subsidized private coverage offered in new state marketplaces and expanded Medicaid eligibility. How things turn out will likely depend on outreach efforts and states’ decisions on expanding Medicaid. 

Since 2009, eight states participating in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Maximizing Enrollment program have worked to streamline eligibility and enrollment systems for children and those eligible for coverage in 2014. Several of the grantee states' technology-based solutions have paved the way for the new simplifications required of all states under the ACA. This Maximizing Enrollment report shares findings and lessons learned from the state grantees' experiences of adopting and piloting inventive technology strategies that go beyond what federal law requires and are worthy of consideration as states move forward with ACA implementation. Strategies were adopted in the four areas: 1) application and renewal simplifications; 2) customer interfaces; 3) system functioning, and 4) workflow management.