(JAN 18, 2022) ANNAPOLIS, MD – Gov. Larry Hogan today announced that open enrollment
will continue on Maryland Health Connection through February in light of the ongoing public
health emergency. A record number of Marylanders – 181,603 – have enrolled in coverage for
2022 through the state’s health insurance marketplace. A surge of new enrollees fueled the
9-percent increase over a year ago.
“As we battle this COVID-19 surge, this extended enrollment period will help get more
Marylanders covered at a critical time,” said Gov. Larry Hogan. “One of the many lessons of the
pandemic is how important it is to have access to affordable and reliable health coverage, and we
are fortunate to have a health exchange that is a national model.”
Open enrollment, which began Nov. 1 and was originally scheduled to end Jan. 15, will now
continue through Feb. 28. Anyone who enrolls by Jan. 31 will have coverage beginning Feb. 1.
Those who enroll during February will be covered starting March 1.
New enrollees totaled 39,181, up 48 percent, between Nov. 1 and Jan. 15. More than 141,944
existing enrollees also retained their coverage, up 2 percent, as the health emergency stretched
into a third year. Marylanders can also obtain dental insurance through the state marketplace.
Those enrollments grew 29 percent, from 51,505 a year ago to 66,634 for 2022.
Populations that historically have proportionately lacked health coverage such as young adults,
Black and Hispanic residents enrolled as never before during the enrollment period between Nov.
1 and Jan. 15.
Enrollment of adults ages 18-34 reached 49,576, a 6-percent increase over the 2021 open
enrollment. The gain was propelled by added financial help from a $20 million fund that
Maryland set aside during last year’s legislative session to encourage more young adults to get
coverage, both for their own health and to help bring down the cost of coverage overall. Nearly
two-thirds, or 32,122, of the young adult enrollees qualified for the additional subsidy, which
reduced their monthly costs about $35 per person. More than 8,000 of those young adults who
qualified for the additional help were new enrollees.
Black enrollees for 2022 totaled 30,535, a 10-percent increase over a year ago. Hispanic
enrollees totaled 20,241, a 13-percent increase over a year ago. (Self-identification of race and
ethnicity is optional on the application.)
“I’m happy that the marketing and outreach efforts we targeted to those groups helped get the
message out about the need for health insurance, especially now,” said Michele Eberle, executive
director of the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, which runs the state’s health insurance
marketplace. “Getting high-quality, affordable coverage to as many uninsured people as possible
and responding to chronic health inequities are essential to our mission. Thanks to our amazing
statewide partners for helping us spread the word.”
Other action in recent years by state and federal officials helped fuel enrollments. The
Reinsurance program that Gov. Hogan and the Maryland General Assembly created in 2018 with
federal approval led Maryland to offer some of the least expensive plans in the nation.
Maryland’s individual market, on average, offered the least expensive gold and bronze plans and
the third least expensive silver plans in the nation, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation
analysis in October.
Also, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, approved by Congress and signed by President
Biden last March, broadened financial help to all income levels for people who buy their own
health coverage. That was reflected in the enrollment totals: The number of people who earn
more than four times the federal poverty level, which was the cap for financial help before the
Rescue Plan, grew by 60 percent over a year ago, to 16,053. The federal poverty level is $12,880
for an individual and $26,500 for a family of 4.
Additional enrollment opportunities will continue this year, including the Easy Enrollment
program that allows uninsured people to get coverage if they check a box when filing their state
income tax form.
A similar program will launch later this year for any Marylander filing for Unemployment
Insurance who checks a box to state they need coverage and seek assistance from the Maryland
Health Benefit Exchange.
Maryland’s approach has helped stabilize prices and enrollment on the individual health
insurance market. Coverage is open to all applicants regardless of pre-existing conditions since
the Affordable Care Act launched a decade ago.
The total number of Marylanders who buy their own health insurance grew 5 percent, from
234,802 a year ago to 245,538 this month. That total includes both those who buy through
Maryland Health Connection, the only outlet for financial help, and those who buy directly
through one of the three companies that serve the individual market in Maryland.
