State Health Insurance Exchange enrolls more than 83,000

A total of 83,647 people enrolled in health insurance plans through the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange.

That number is down about 7,356 from the number who enrolled a year ago but Executive Director Heather Korbulic said despite the enormous uncertainty from Washington, D.C., the exchange was able to help thousands of Nevadans find and enroll in health plans. And the vast majority of them — some 82 percent — receive a federal subsidy to help them cover the monthly premiums.

Under the rates approved by the Nevada Division of Insurance for 2019, rates for those on the exchange decreased 0.4 percent.

Officials say the reason for decreased enrollment is the federal decision to remove the penalty for people who don’t buy health insurance. Technically the mandate is still there but without a penalty. After that decision, most analysts predicted individuals who are healthy and between 26 and 40 years of age would be the most likely to forgo buying insurance.

She said the figure will continue to increase because it doesn’t count those who left contact information or consumers who enrolled through the Dec. 16 deadline.

Even though open enrollment has ended, Korbulic said certain changes in a person’s life can make them eligible to enroll at any time during the year. Examples of those life events include the loss of employer-based coverage, income changes and changes in family size because of marriage, divorce or the birth of a child.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been changed to reflect that the number of enrollments is down 7,356, not almost 10,000 as initially reported.