Commercial health enrollment drops at ‘non-Blues’

Health insurers outside the Blue Cross and Blue Shield system have relied heavily on Medicaid business to make up for falling commercial plan enrollment in the past 18 months.

Analysts at Mark Farrah Associates have publishing data on the shift in a commentary based on reviews of insurer reports filed since major Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) medical insurance market changes took effect in January 2014.

The newest enrollment reports in the analysis were for the period ending June 30, 2015.

Because the PPACA public exchange system had such a rocky start in early 2014, and because the PPACA exchange plan enrollment system is seasonal, comparing the mid-2015 data with the mid-2014 data may provide the first meaningful indication of how enrollment is changing over time now that the new rules are in effect.

Total enrollment increased 0.5 percent at Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans between June 2014 and June 2015, to 105 million.