THE HENRY J. KAISER Be a et FAMILY —— 5 moma 4 Medicaid and the Uninsured Filling the need for trusted information on national health issues... September 2016 | Issue Brief Findings from the Field: Enrollment and Consumer Assistance in Four States in Year Three of the ACA Jennifer Tolbert, Samantha Artiga, Robin Rudowitz, Julia Paradise, and Melissa Majerol Executive Summary Three years into the implementation of the ACA, many states continue to streamline their eligibility and enrollment processes and refine their outreach efforts and consumer assistance programs in order to maintain and expand on the coverage gains achieved to date. Based on case studies and focus groups, this brief reviews experiences with Medicaid and Marketplace enrollment, renewal, and consumer assistance in Colorado, Connecticut, Kentucky, and Washington as of Spring 2016. These states implemented the Medicaid expansion and established a state-based Marketplace (SBM) in 2014. This brief builds on previous reports that examined states’ preparation for implementation prior to the initial ACA open enrollment period and their experiences after completion of the first and second open enrollment periods. Together, this work provides an in-depth understanding of ACA implementation from multiple perspectives, tracking and documenting experiences that may help shape efforts moving forward. Key findings from this brief include the following: Eligibility systems worked well during OE3, with fewer glitches than previous years. States continued to enhance system functionality between OE2 and OE3, improving system performance and providing consumers enhanced options to compare plans. Some system challenges persist for certain individuals and situations, such as immigrants and families with mixed coverage types. Colorado, Connecticut, and Washington are building on their systems to make continued improvements. In contrast, Kentucky is dismantling its Marketplace system, kynect. It transitioned to a new Benefind system for Medicaid enrollment following OE3 and plans to transition to Healthcare.gov for Marketplace enrollment for OE4. Medicaid enrollment continued to grow during OE3, but this growth began to stabilize. All four states have experienced significant increases in Medicaid enrollment since initial implementation of the ACA. The slowing of enrollment growth during OE3 reflects the fact that the states had already enrolled most of the eligible population. The remaining eligible population includes harder to reach groups who will require more intensive, targeted efforts to enroll. Medicaid retention rates are high in the four study states, with nearly 90% of enrollees successfully renewing coverage. The study states are utilizing automated Medicaid renewal processes that generally appear to be working well. Reductions in Medicaid eligibility levels for parents in Connecticut and proposed changes to the Medicaid expansion in Kentucky may affect future enrollment in these states. Marketplace enrollment increased in three of the study states during OE3. Colorado, Connecticut, and Washington experienced growth in Marketplace enrollment; however, Marketplace enrollment in Kentucky was flat from OE3. Several factors may have contributed to the lack of enrollment growth in Kentucky, including the exit of the CO-OP plan that had offered more affordable coverage and confusion over whether coverage through kynect remained available as the newly elected Governor ran on a campaign to dismantle kynect. With improvements in system performance and greater familiarity with the renewal process on the part of consumers, Marketplace renewal generally went smoothly in the four states. However, some enrollees expressed frustration that their plans were no longer available, forcing them to find a new plan. Affordability of coverage continues to be a barrier for many Marketplace enrollees. Many individuals lack information about the availability of subsidies to reduce premium costs, but premiums can still be unaffordable for individuals even when the subsidies are applied. In addition, deductibles and other out-of- pocket costs also pose challenges for many Marketplace enrollees. Marketplace officials reported exploring strategies to provide consumers with more information on costs, including building on the decision support tools they had developed and noted the need for more education about the availability subsidies to reduce out- of-pocket costs. Local level outreach and enrollment initiatives remained key for supporting successful enrollment and renewal. Consumer awareness of ACA coverage has increased compared to prior open enrollment periods, but there remain gaps in knowledge about the availability of financial assistance for Marketplace coverage and a continued need to educate consumers about how to use their coverage and how cost-sharing and deductibles work. During OE3, the case study states employed ongoing local level outreach and enrollment strategies that built on successful efforts from previous open enrollment periods. These initiatives included targeted efforts to reach specific populations, such as immigrants and people of color. Funding decreases led to some shifts away from broad mass media campaigns. A broad range of individuals and organizations provided application and enrollment assistance, most of whom provided assistance in prior years. This experience, coupled with improved systems, enabled them to devote more time to outreach and helping people understand their benefits, as well as addressing post-enrollment problems and tax-related issues. Increased emphasis by the Marketplaces on finding and enrolling consumers into qualified health plans, as well as cuts to assister funding, led to some restructuring of assister networks. Future funding for consumer assistance remains a concern across the states, and particularly in Kentucky where the future role for kynectors is uncertain. Call center capacity and operations improved compared to prior years, but some challenges remained related to the quality of the assistance provided and long waits during peak times. Looking ahead, states seek to build upon and sustain coverage gains. Three of the study states will continue to make improvements to their eligibility and enrollment systems to streamline further the enrollment and renewal processes for Medicaid and the Marketplace. They also plan to continue investments in outreach and consumer assistance efforts to find and enroll harder to reach populations, though a greater emphasis on enrolling consumers into QHPs coupled with funding constraints may lead to restructuring of navigator and other assister networks. With affordability of Marketplace coverage a concern, state officials are exploring strategies to address costs and help consumers make informed health plan choices. In contrast, efforts in Kentucky to dismantle its integrated eligibility and enrollment platform, kynect, and proposed changes to the Medicaid expansion may have implications for continued strong enrollment in Medicaid. Findings from the Field: Enrollment and Consumer Assistance in Four States in Year Three of the ACA 2 Introduction As of Spring 2016, states had completed the third open enrollment period (OE3) for the Health Insurance Marketplaces established by the ACA and most of the 32 states, including DC, that had adopted the Medicaid expansion to low-income adults were well into their third year of implementation. With three years of expanded coverage in place, many states have streamlined their eligibility and enrollment processes with the goal of increasing enrollment and retention of Medicaid and Marketplace enrollees. They continue to invest in outreach and consumer assistance, even as these efforts and programs evolve in response to changes in funding and priorities. In Spring 2016, the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) conducted case studies to gain an on-the-ground view of ACA implementation in four states, Colorado, Connecticut, Kentucky, and Washington, after completion of OE3. Working with PerryUndem Research/Communication, the Foundation conducted 28 in-person and phone interviews with a range of stakeholders in each state, including Medicaid and Marketplace officials, consumer advocates, assisters, and hospital and community health center (CHC) representatives. In addition, focus groups were conducted with Medicaid and Marketplace enrollees in each state. This work builds on previous analyses that examined states’ preparation for implementation prior to the initial ACA open enrollment period in October 2013 and subsequent reports examining state experiences after completion of the first and second open enrollment periods. Together, this work provides an in-depth understanding of ACA implementation from multiple perspectives, tracking and documenting experiences that may help shape efforts moving forward. The four states included in these case studies implemented the Medicaid expansion and established a state- based Marketplace (SBM) in 2014. As of OE3, all four states had very successful experiences implementing the coverage expansions. As such, these states’ experiences may provide key lessons about factors contributing to successful enrollment and greater insight into access and utilization of care as a growing number of people gain coverage. This brief reviews these states’ experiences with enrollment and renewal in Medicaid and Marketplace coverage, as well as outreach and consumer assistance during OE3. A separate brief reviews the experiences of Medicaid enrollees with access to care and explores state efforts to transform the Medicaid and broader health care delivery system. Key Findings ENROLLMENT AND RENEWAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE THIRD OPEN ENROLLMENT PERIOD Stakeholders in all four study states viewed OE3 as successful. They reported that systems functioned smoothly with fewer glitches than in previous years. Overall, enrollment continued to grow and Marketplaces were largely stable with the exception of some high profile plan exits. Moreover, stakeholders felt consumer awareness and understanding of coverage options and how to navigate enrollment and renewal processes improved compared to prior years. However, stakeholders also pointed to remaining challenges, including difficulties enrolling immigrant and mixed immigration status families as well as families with mixed coverage, in which some individuals qualify for Medicaid and others qualify for Marketplace coverage. Stakeholders also noted reductions in funding for outreach and enrollment assistance resources. In Kentucky, Findings from the Field: Enrollment and Consumer Assistance in Four States in Year Three of the ACA 3 the gubernatorial election included significant debate around the future of coverage through its Marketplace, kynect, as well as the Medicaid expansion, with the newly elected Governor running on a platform to dismantle kynect. This led to confusion among consumers about the availability of kynect, which stakeholders felt dampened enrollment. All four study states have had large declines in their uninsured rates since implementation of the ACA, which continued through OE3 (Table 1). Stakeholders agree that successful enrollment into the ACA coverage options contributed to these large declines, which have led to record low uninsured rates in each of the study states. Even with the significant success in reducing the number of uninsured, stakeholders in the states believe it is possible to achieve continued coverage gains by increasing enrollment of the remaining uninsured who are eligible for coverage. They noted that many of the remaining uninsured are eligible for Medicaid and that through continued efforts they should be able to find and enroll these individuals. Table 1: Uninsured Rates for the Nonelderly Population U.S. Colorado Connecticut Kentucky Washington Nonelderly Uninsured Rate, 2013 16.6% 14.7% 10.5% 18.8% 18.3% Nonelderly Uninsured Rate, 2015 10.5% 6.7% 5.7% 6.8% 9.3% Percentage Point Change Between 2013 and 2015 -6.1% -8.0% -4.8% -12.0% -9.0% Source: Health Insurance Coverage: Early Release of Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, 2013 and 2015. ELIGIBILITY SYSTEMS During OE3, all four states had an Figure 4 - Integrated Medicaid and Marketplace Systems integrated eligibility system that made eligibility determinations for both Medicaid and Marketplace coverage. In the CONNECT}HEALTH four study states, the Marketplace eligibility SOLORARY atthe system served as the online enrollment pathway access health CT & : for both Marketplace and Medicaid coverage —_ may during OE3 (Figure 1). In Colorado, the state also ky Nn e C t maintains a separate online Medicaid Kentucky's Healthcare Connection application, called PEAK, which allows Ss » washington . individuals to apply for Medicaid and other