Affordable Care Act enrollment for state, county

The goal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is to reduce the cost of health care, in part by getting the uninsured to enroll in a private plan or Medicaid, for which more people now are eligible. Our state’s implementation began Oct. 1 when Washington Healthplanfinder, at www.wahealthplanfinder.org, was launched. The Washington Health Benefit Exchange, a public-private enterprise, runs the program and issues periodic reports on enrollment rates.

Being insured is now mandatory, and if you don’t qualify for Medicaid, you have until March 31 to sign up for a private plan. Those who qualify for federal assistance can sign up anytime.

The Washington Healthplanfinder website enables uninsured people to compare state-approved private insurance plans and see if they qualify for Medicaid or other assistance. Getting private insurance through the state program is not required. If you are already covered by an employer plan, you need not make a change.

Starting this year, individuals and families who are not insured through some plan will be assessed a penalty at tax time.

Washington health-care exchange enrollment

At www.wahealthplanfinder.org from Oct. 1 through Jan. 31. Definitions:

Qualified health plan: People enrolled in state-approved private health insurance offered at Washington Healthcare Exchange.
Medicaid redeterminations: People newly enrolled in Medicaid who had been eligible under old rules.
Medicaid newly covered: People who have qualified and enrolled in a Medicaid plan under expansion.

County	Qualified health plan	Medicaid redeterminations	Medicaid newly covered	Total	% of total population
Adams	223	2,450	979	3,652	19.2%
San Juan	877	561	950	2,388	15.1%
Yakima	2,089	21,602	13,497	37,188	15.1%
Okanogan	699	2,594	2,091	5,384	13.0%
Franklin	654	6,897	3,605	11,156	13.0%
Chelan	1,347	4,276	3,464	9,087	12.3%
Grant	806	6,701	3,592	11,099	12.1%
Pacific	498	912	1,016	2,426	11.8%
Jefferson	957	973	1,589	3,519	11.8%
Klickitat	460	895	963	2,318	11.2%
Douglas	494	2,273	1,620	4,387	11.1%
Grays Harbor	875	3,654	3,251	7,780	10.9%
Pend Oreille	169	709	503	1,381	10.6%
Spokane	6,056	22,519	21,811	50,386	10.6%
Lewis	942	3,611	3,241	7,794	10.3%
Whatcom	4,320	7,548	9,169	21,037	10.2%
Wahkiakum	80	155	171	406	10.2%
Stevens	573	2,117	1,707	4,397	10.1%
Clallam	1,435	2,838	2,964	7,237	10.1%
Skagit	1,829	5,280	4,683	11,792	10.0%
Columbia	53	165	180	398	10.0%
Garfield	48	84	87	219	9.8%
Cowlitz	880	4,760	4,085	9,725	9.5%
Lincoln	141	477	355	973	9.3%
Walla Walla	704	2,766	2,049	5,519	9.3%
Benton	1,735	8,558	6,646	16,939	9.3%
Kittitas	594	1,342	1,715	3,651	8.8%
Ferry	91	318	265	674	8.7%
Asotin	267	754	816	1,837	8.4%
Clark	4,814	16,321	15,612	36,747	8.4%
Mason	659	2,273	2,159	5,091	8.4%
Thurston	3,061	8,052	9,588	20,701	8.0%
Skamania	158	374	339	871	7.8%
King	29,850	57,164	68,152	155,166	7.7%
Pierce	7,041	27,862	27,458	62,361	7.7%
Snohomish	8,640	21,410	22,334	52,384	7.1%
Kitsap	3,146	6,484	8,051	17,681	6.9%
Island	1,385	1,614	2,445	5,444	6.9%
Whitman	334	907	1,299	2,540	5.4%
Statewide	88,984	260,250	254,501	603,735	8.8%