FACT SHEET: Healthy Communities Challenge for Seattle

As the Affordable Care Act’s coverage provisions have taken effect, 17.6 million Americans have gained coverage, and, since 2010, we’ve reduced the uninsured rate in this country by 45 percent.  The nation’s uninsured rate now stands at its lowest level ever. But still, in communities across the country, 10.5 million people eligible for Marketplace coverage remain uninsured.

Today, we are launching the White House “Healthy Communities Challenge” to engage key communities with large numbers or high percentages of uninsured in states across the country where strong federal, state and community collaboration can have a meaningful impact on reaching the uninsured. Through this challenge, we are calling on community leadership to build outreach efforts to reach these remaining uninsured and help them gain coverage. 

At the end of this third open enrollment period, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), along with State-based Marketplaces, will publish tallies of new Marketplace signups in participating communities. These tallies will be compared to HHS estimates of the number of eligible uninsured people at the start of open enrollment to see which communities made the most progress during the challenge. 

The victorious community gets bragging rights, a healthier community, and a visit from President Obama to celebrate their success in helping ensure every American has health coverage.

Based on particularly high opportunity for impact, the White House reached out to local officials in each of these 20 communities, including King County Executive Dow Constantine and Mayor Ed Murray, who embraced the “Healthy Communities Challenge” to get their uninsured constituents covered.

Seattle Health Insurance Marketplace for 2016

• Health insurance coverage is affordable.  On June 30, 2015, 164,280 people in Washington were covered through its Health Insurance Exchange, or Marketplace. 
  • The average monthly premium in Washington will increase by 3.9 percent from 2015 to 2016 before tax credits.
  • Tax credits matter.  In 2015, 78 percent of Marketplace enrollees – 127,760 people – in Washington received a tax credit, and consumers saved an average of $260 per month.
• Consumers have a choice. 
  • In Washington, 12 issuers are offering individual health plans in the Marketplace in 2016
  • In King County, 8 issuers are offering individual health plans in the Marketplace in 2016.
• While progress has been made, more work is needed to cover the uninsured.
  • In Washington, the adult uninsured rate dropped from 16.8 percent in 2013 to 6.4 percent in the first half of 2015. 
  • In Seattle and the surrounding region, there are 91,000 uninsured who are eligible for the Marketplace. (The number of the uninsured is for the Designated Market Area that includes Seattle.)

Communities Participating in the “Healthy Communities Challenge”

•          Dallas, TX
•          Tampa, FL
•          Atlanta, GA
•          Seattle, WA
•          Great Falls, MT
•          Salt Lake City, UT
•          Kansas City, MO
•          Chicago, IL
•          Phoenix, AZ
•          Detroit, MI
•          Charlotte, NC
•          Nashville, TN
•          New Orleans, LA
•          Denver, CO
•          Milwaukee, WI
•          Philadelphia, PA
•          Las Vegas, NV
•          Oakland, CA
•          Richmond, VA
•          Long Beach, CA