The new Montana health insurance company that opened last year is expanding into Idaho this year, and will start selling coverage there on Saturday.
"We became operational in Idaho because there was a need for greater competition in the state of Idaho," said Karen Early, director of marketing for MHC, the company that operates as Montana Health Co-op on this side of the Bitterroots, and as Mountain Health Co-op in Idaho.
MHC is one of24 new co-op health insurance companies that launched last year under the federal Affordable Care Act, what some people call “Obamacare.” The law gave the co-ops loans in order to create more competition in state health insurance marketplaces. All the co-ops are non-profit.
"Co-ops really are operating best in those states where there’s less population and there are fewer competitors in the health insurance marketplace and Idaho is one of those markets much like Montana," said Early. "In Idaho last year there were only four insurance companies on the exchange, versus states like California where there were dozens. So there aren't a lot of health insurance companies operating and that's a place where a health insurance co-op that is a true non-profit entity can have a real good marketplace share, because it offers more competition in a rather narrow market."
The new co-ops have struggled in some states, but Montana’s did well last year, capturing about 40% of the market. Karen Early says her company won about 4,000 more customers in Montana than it’s initial goal. In Idaho, which has about half-again as many residents as Montana, they’re hoping for similar success.
"We certainly hope to enroll 10 or 15,000 people in Idaho this year, the same as we did in Montana," said Early. "We may enroll far more, we just don't know. It's going to depend a lot on market forces and how people perceived the need to buy health insurance this year."
A lot of different factors figure into that. For one, the tax penalty for not having health insurance under the Affordable Care Act is bigger this year. Last year it was $95 or one percent of a person’s income, whichever was greater. This year, the penalty is $325 or two percent of income.
How many people decide to buy coverage will also have a lot to do with how hard the process is. Last year, the initial rollout of the HealthCare.gov website was a nightmare. Things improved over time, enough so that more than eight million Americans eventually got coverage.
Officials in Idaho say things should be better there this year because the state’s residents no longer have to use healthcare.gov. Idaho set up its own online marketplace, called Your Health Idaho. Pat Kelly is its executive director.
"I think the challenges last year with healthcare.gov really gives Idaho an opportunity to build upon the lessons learned," said Kelly. "We can learn from some of the mistakes that other exchanges and the federal marketplace experienced last year to insure that we do not repeat those mistakes here in Idaho."
But Your Health Idaho, and healthcare.gov and the other state exchanges also have three fewer months to sign people up for health insurance than they did last year. Last year open enrollment ran from October through March. This year, open enrollment starts tomorrow and only runs through mid February.
