As of Jan. 31, more than 12.2 million consumers either signed up or reenrolled in coverage through federally facilitated exchanges (FFEs) and state-based marketplaces (SBMs)—roughly 9.2 and 3 million, respectively, according to a March 15 CMS report on the 2017 public exchange open enrollment period. Of these consumers, 3.8 million were new customers purchasing exchange coverage for the first time, leaving almost 8.4 million returning costumers who reenrolled in the same plan, switched plans or automatically crosswalked to a new plan.

CMS’s report showed almost half of all active enrollees in FFEs stayed in the same or a crosswalked plan. This trend continued state to state, where on average, 47% of active enrollees remained in the same or a crosswalked plan. Consumers crosswalk into a plan when their current plan is not available for reenrollment. Healthcare.gov enrolls them automatically into a plan that may lie within the same product from the same issuer, a different product from the same issuer or a “suggested alternate” plan from a new issuer. CMS did not statistically differentiate between those reenrolling in the same plan and those in crosswalked plans in the final OEP report.

The public use file from CMS includes various figures from FFEs and SBMs, with enrollment by demographics, metal level, federal poverty level, premium tax credits and several other breakdowns. In all 39 FFEs and eight reporting SBMs, the average premium for consumers before receiving the Advance Premium Tax Credit (APTC) or Cost-Sharing Reductions (CSR) was $497. For those receiving APTC, the average premium fell to $123, according to PBX calculations based on CMS data, prepared for the PBX in-app download CMS Final Enrollment Report Summary. Throughout all 50 states and Washington, D.C., more than 10.1 million people received APTC - nearly 83% of all consumers purchasing coverage on an individual exchange.

Statistically, white females between the ages of 55 and 64 constituted the highest number of enrollees. Adults 55-64 represented 26.8% of consumers overall, while those between 26 and 34 made up only 16.7%. From enrollees under 18 to those between 55 and 64, there is a steady increase in enrollment, stalling only around ages 26 to 44 and except for those over 65, who accounted for fewer than 1% of marketplace customers.

For more information, visit www.aishealthdata.com/pbx and download our condensed workbook CMS Final Enrollment Report Summary in our In-App Download section. Visit www.cms.gov and visit their newsroom to read the full 2017 Open Enrollment Fact Sheet and view the complete public use file.