Total plan selections represent a 17% increase over last year, and includes a significant increase in new enrollees on Healthcare.gov

With four out of five people eligible for coverage at $10 or less, the Biden-Harris Administration urges everyone to visit HealthCare.gov and sign up for high-quality, affordable health care

ACA Marketplace National Enrollment Snapshot

The Biden-Harris Administration announces nearly 3.4 million people nationwide have selected an Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace health plan since the start of the 2023 Marketplace Open Enrollment Period (OEP) on November 1. This represents activity through November 19 (Week 3) for the 33 states using HealthCare.gov and through November 12 (Week 2) for 16 states and the District of Columbia with State-based Marketplaces (SBMs).[1] Total plan selections include 655,000 people (19% of total) who are new to the Marketplaces for 2023, and 2.7 million people (81% of total) who have active 2022 coverage and returned to their respective Marketplaces to renew or select a new plan for 2023. These plan selection numbers represent a 17% increase in total plan selections over last year.

As President Joe Biden and Secretary Xavier Becerra announced, new customers enrolling on Healthcare.gov are up nearly 40% over last year. On November 16, Healthcare.gov had 493,216 new enrollees, compared to 354,137 on the same date in last year.

The 2023 Marketplace OEP runs from November 1, 2022 to January 15, 2023 for states using the HealthCare.gov platform. People generally need to submit an application and choose a plan by December 15 for their coverage to start January 1. State-based Marketplace enrollment deadlines vary. State-specific deadlines and other information are available in the State-based Marketplace Open Enrollment Fact Sheet.

“We are off to a strong start – and we will not rest until we can connect everyone possible to health care coverage this enrollment season,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “The Biden-Harris Administration has taken historic action to expand access to health care, and ensure everyone can have the peace of mind that comes with being insured. With four out of five people eligible for coverage at $10 or less, do not miss your opportunity to sign up for high-quality, affordable health care. We urge everyone to visit HealthCare.gov and find the coverage that meets your needs.”

“Providing quality, affordable health care options remains a top priority. The numbers prove that our focus is in the right place. In the first weeks of Open Enrollment, we have seen an increase in plan selections and a significant increase in the number of new enrollees over the previous year,” said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. “I am pleased to see such a strong early showing and I encourage all those looking for affordable health care coverage to visit HealthCare.gov.”

The Biden-Harris Administration has made expanding access to health insurance and lowering health care costs for America’s families a top priority, and under their leadership, the national uninsured rate reached an all-time low earlier this year. 

The Biden-Harris Administration encourages all families to visit HealthCare.gov and check out the health care coverage options and savings available to them. This year, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, more people will continue to qualify for help purchasing quality health coverage with expanded financial assistance. Thirteen million Americans will continue to save an average of $800 per year on their health insurance. Four out of five people will be able to find a plan for $10 or less after tax credits. People with coverage through HealthCare.gov are encouraged to return and shop to see if another plan better meets their needs at a lower cost.

Individuals can enroll or re-enroll in health insurance coverage for 2023 by visiting HealthCare.gov, or CuidadoDeSalud.gov, or by calling 1-800-318-2596 to fill out an application. Individuals wanting assistance signing up for coverage may go to Find Local Help on HealthCare.gov to find a Navigator, Certified Application Counselor, or agent or broker: https://www.healthcare.gov/find-assistance/.

Marketplace Enrollment Snapshot Overview:

To view the first Marketplace enrollment snapshot report, please visit: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/marketplace-2023-open-enrollment-period-report-national-snapshot

Find out more via key highlights and improvements and infographic for the Marketplace 2023 Open Enrollment Period. For more information about how to enroll in Marketplace coverage, visit HealthCare.gov, CuidadoDeSalud.gov or your State-based Marketplace.

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“We wanted to put together an event to show that it’s important to treat everybody the same; no one should ever be treated as being less because they are autistic or anything else,” Briones, of Soboba, said.

Davila’s 14-year-old son, Adrian, was diagnosed at the age of 3.

“We had no idea what autism was and the community didn’t have a lot of resources,” she said. “I joined a lot of Facebook groups and started getting more involved and learning more about the topic. I also started a small business of my own so I could be a stay-at-home mom.”

“Nena’s” are sweet treats of common favorite gummy-style candies that she coats with her special secret recipe to make them moister and tastier.

Davila, of Hemet, said she has hosted small events to help promote autism acceptance and spread awareness but was happy to partner with Suvóova Sweet Treats to have such a large-scale event at Soboba. She has more than 13,000 followers on her social media platforms and many were excited to hear about the marketplace. Jazmine Carmona of San Jacinto attended with a large support group of family members for her 3-year-old son, Jayden Gaarde, who was diagnosed when he was two and a half.

“He was walking on his tippy toes and not paying attention,” she said. “I was arguing with the doctors who didn’t think anything was wrong and I’ve been fighting for him ever since.”

Carmona lets her family members know everything she is teaching Jayden so they can reinforce it when they are with him.

Davila said the event at Soboba was designed to bring families together because many hesitate to go out in public for fear of being judged. “We wanted to create a place for families to enjoy a day out where they can shop while the kids enjoy fun things to do.”

She said local schools have made progress in helping students like her son, stating that it was much harder when he was little. She said he is non-verbal but very active and loving.

“He knows how to manage a cell phone and can find any YouTube video he wants,” she said with a proud smile. “My son helped us all understand more about kindness and patience.”

Davila’s sister, Jerelly Saucedo, said the whole family came out to support the event for Adrian and all the families that learned about the event through Loren’s social media communications and Antiana’s community contacts.

Along with free face painting by Marlene and animal balloons by Mayra Arce, there were several sensory booths to provide unlimited fun activities for all children. From bubbles to bins of gel-filled orbies, slime and putty, kids of all ages spent a lot of time actively playing during the seven-hour event.

Many of the vendors offered specific items that have been found to be popular and helpful for those that have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. ASD is a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn and behave.

Chad and Jacquelyn Loeffler were sharing their “think play magic” sensory items. Their grandson, Maddox, who tragically passed away a few months ago, had autism. Their daughter, Chelsey Romano, began creating play dough kits, scented slime and custom crayons for Maddox and the projects grew into a business.

“We went through 1,000 play dough recipes until we found this one and our dough can last up to six months,” Jacquelyn, of Menifee, said.

She said Maddox was an active child who stopped speaking when he was two years old and was diagnosed with ASD. They were in the process of teaching him sign language to communicate.

“He spoke volumes without being able to talk,” Jacquelyn said.

The play dough kits help teach kids about color, matching and other skills packaged in fun themes such as dinosaurs, unicorns and even a little mermaid. She said the kits provide stimulus for both sides of the brain and encourage imagination to develop.

The family attends many outdoor markets to share their products throughout Lake Elsinore, Murrieta and Temecula and also on Instagram @thinkplaymagic and Etsy at www.thinkplaymagic.Etsy.com.

Another small business showing their popular products was Puzzle Peace, based in Hemet. “Sensory toys for sensory needs” that are a favorite of five-year-old Jaxon, led his mom to start the business and share them with others who can benefit. They are available on Instagram @puzzlepeacetoys.

ASD varies from child to child and sometimes isn’t diagnosed at an early age. Neurodivergent Artistry’s Samantha Cragun discovered only recently that she is on the spectrum. The 35-year-old artist uses acrylics and pastels to capture emotions such as anxiety and fear. She spent her life being told she was bipolar, depressed and other things until she stumbled upon a person who was talking about their experience with autism.

“This woman’s traits were like a list of my whole life, my entire personality,” Cragun, of Perris, said. “It has helped me because it’s a confirmation of knowing who you are and understanding yourself better.”

She said she struggled socially and didn’t understand the “why” of things. A good student, she said she pushed herself because she was always comparing herself to others.

“Had I been diagnosed at a younger age, I think I would have been more forgiving of myself and would not have spent so much time thinking about why some things were so easy for some people but not for me,” she said. Since the age of two, Cragun wanted to be an artist and during the COVID shutdowns when she couldn’t work at her hair salon, it rekindled that love she had for it. She shares her story with others through local art markets and on Instagram.

The marketplace featured food vendors of all kinds with tables set out so families could sit together and enjoy Indian tacos from Frybread Kitchen and Ivan Peralta’s Kettle Corn among others. Music from DJ Mike Nevarez kept things upbeat, as did the regular announcement of raffle prize winners.

Eva Prendes is an Associate Division Manager for the state-funded nonprofit, Toward Maximum Independence, which offers a community integration training program for those with intellectual disabilities. Other TMI programs offer much needed resources for families throughout Southern California. For more information, www.tmi-inc.org.

Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians | Contributed

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Call it California counterintuitive: Less of a frenzy in the marketplace has translated to more sales of single-family homes statewide.

That’s a key takeaway from the California Association of Realtors report on September sales, which showed a 6 percent hike in transactions from August –– the biggest month-to-month increase in more than a year.

September’s reversal of a downward trend on sales –– ongoing since spring –– came as both prices and demand cooled in the wake of a frenzied summer. Strong demand spurred by low-interest rates and pandemic-driven relocations had pushed prices up relentlessly for most of the year, dragging down availability and affordability to deliver a twin damper on sales.

Last month’s 6 percent statewide gain represented an annualized pace of 438,000 home sales closed in the state, CAR calculated, up from 415,000 in August.

The state’s median home price for September was $809,000, 2 percent lower than for August and 14 percent higher compared with a year earlier.

The slight dip last month was enough to bring some prospective buyers back off the sidelines, Dave Walsh, president of the CAR, said in a release.

“As we move into the off-homebuying season we should see market competition and home prices moderating, giving those who waited out the highly competitive market earlier this year an opportunity to revisit buying,” Walsh said.

California’s downward trend in home sales began in May, when CAR counted an annualized rate of 446,000 closings, a 3 percent month-to-month dip. The trend continued for the rest of the summer, largely because so many successive months of intense demand had exhausted the market’s available homes.

“It’s not that demand is cooling,” appraiser Jonathan Miller said in August. “It’s that sales inventory is collapsing.”

Even with last month’s rise, statewide sales are down nearly 11 percent compared with a year ago, highlighting the intensity of the prior buying frenzy.

The statewide cooling trend isn’t hitting local markets evenly. The median price continued to climb in Los Angeles County, from $830,000 in August to $886,000 last month, according to the report. September’s median marks a 13 percent increase from the same month in 2020, when L.A. County’s median sale price was $766,000.

Earlier this month, a separate CAR report forecast a statewide cooling trend for 2022, predicting that nearly 417,000 existing single-family homes would sell next year and that the state’s median sale price would see only a moderate rise. CAR expects that the state’s median sale price will finish this year with a jump of 20 percent.

Trevor Bach | Contributed

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