ALBANY, N.Y. (December 22, 2014) - The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) today announced that 225,244 people have newly enrolled for health insurance coverage through the NY State of Health (NYSOH) Marketplace since the second open enrollment period began on November 15. This number represents individuals within the Marketplace who completed their enrollment in the system on or after November 15, but who were not previously enrolled for 2014.
“Thanks to the incredibly strong commitment of our partners, staff, and consumers across the State, we are very pleased to announce that enrollment for New Yorkers in quality affordable health insurance plans continues to increase steadily,” said NYSOH Executive Director Donna Frescatore. “We will continue to build on this success and boost our grassroots efforts to reach as many New Yorkers as possible in our drive to get them covered before February 15.”
This year’s open enrollment began on November 15 and runs through February 15, 2015. The deadline for January 1, 2015 coverage was extended from December 15 to December 20 to compensate for the severe winter weather New York experienced in November, preventing some consumers and navigators from keeping their enrollment appointments.
Between November 15 and December 20, the NYSOH website had more than 771,000 unique visitors. Consumers viewed nearly 36 million website pages during the period, peaking on December 15 with nearly 2.3 million page views. New tools developed to make it easier for customers to understand their health insurance options and how to enroll were well received by consumers. The website’s new plan preview, or anonymous shopping tool, which allows individuals to shop for health plan before starting an application, was used more than 1.6 million times during this period. An instructional video on how to renew coverage for 2015 was viewed more than 67,000 times and a video with tips on how to select a health plan was viewed more than 13,000 times. Both videos are available on the NY State of Health website in English and in Spanish.
Additionally, the NYSOH Customer Service Center answered more than 450,000 calls from November 15 through December 20. Nearly 24,000 calls were answered on December 15, the highest volume seen since the start of 2015 open enrollment and about 33% higher than last year’s enrollment deadline on March 31, 2014.
Other outreach efforts include a new advertising campaign featuring real New Yorkers who enrolled in 2014, and the staging of hundreds of grassroots events across the country. More than 300 events have been scheduled since mid-September to create awareness of health insurance options and the enrollment process.
“The February 15, 2015 enrollment deadline still gives people enough time to start shopping to get 2015 coverage,” Frescatore said. “They can discover if they qualify for help paying for coverage, what health plan choices available in their area, and enroll in a plan that’s right for them by visiting the NYSOH website, calling our customer service center, scheduling an appointment with an in-person assistor, or attending one of our community events near them.”
Events can be found at http://info.nystateofhealth.ny.gov/events.
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Contact: New York State Department of Health
518 474 7354, ext. 1
About the NY State of Health Marketplace
New York opened its Health Plan marketplace, NY State of Health, on October 2013. The Marketplace’s one stop health insurance shopping experience offers high quality comprehensive plans for consumers to choose from. NY State of Health is the only place where consumers can qualify to get help paying for coverage through premium discounts or tax credits. Going forward, consumers must enroll in a plan by the 15th of the month to start coverage on the first of the following month. The NY State of Health Small Business Marketplace for employers with 50 or fewer employees is open to enrollment throughout the year. New Yorkers can also enroll in public health insurance programs through the Marketplace all year. For more information about the New York State of Health exchange, please visit https://nystateofhealth.ny.gov or call Customer Service at 1-855-355-5777.