Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Enrollment Numbers Dip Slightly And Fall Short Of Obama's Goals
More than 12 million Americans chose health plans for this year through the Affordable Care Act鈥檚 insurance marketplaces, according to new federal data that show an increase in the number of returning customers and a significant drop in new participants. The numbers released Wednesday morning, a final report on the most recent enrollment season for ACA coverage, echo preliminary findings last month that the number of people signing up for health plans declined for the first time since the marketplaces opened three years ago. (Goldstein, 3/15)
The 2017 final figure, which updates a preliminary report released last month, was down from 12.7 million in 2016. (Levey, 3/15)
The enrollment total declined slightly from 2016, when 12.7 million people purchased health plans during that year鈥檚 open-enrollment period. About 31% of enrollees were buying plans on the exchanges for the first time. The decline, analysts said, was partially due to聽rising premiums聽and waning insurer participation in the program, which may have deterred many of the young consumers whom former President Barack Obama was attempting to woo in his final days in office. (Hackman, 3/15)
鈥淚 think the discrepancy from last year is almost entirely explained by the lack of a final push in marketing and outreach and promotion,鈥 said Topher Spiro, vice president for health policy at the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress. 鈥淲e were on track to exceed enrollment,鈥 he said, referring to a late rush to sign up in December for coverage that began Jan. 1. (Rovner, 3/15)
President Donald Trump's administration rolled back emails and ads meant to encourage people to sign up for coverage on HealthCare.gov during the final week of open enrollment, when large numbers of consumers typically choose plans. That pull-back and uncertainty about the future of the exchanges under the new federal administration likely prompted fewer sign-ups. (Livingston, 3/15)
The Obama administration estimated that 13.8 million people would sign up through the law鈥檚 online marketplaces, or exchanges. Roughly one-third of the 12.2 million sign-ups were new enrollees, HHS said. (Pradhan, 3/15)
Nationally, 83% 鈥 or more than 10 million consumers 鈥 of those who selected a plan had premiums reduced by tax credits, and these people on average only saw their premiums jump by $1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported. The average value of the tax credits received was $383 per person per month (O'Donnell, 3/15)
The new data shows 31 percent of the sign-ups were new customers. About 83 percent of consumers relied on the health law's subsidies to help pay for their coverage. About 58 percent relied on the law's cost-sharing subsidies for the lowest-income people in the marketplace, which are at the center of a court case brought by the GOP House of Representatives challenging their constitutionality since Congress did not explicitly authorize them. Whether the Trump administration will fund the subsidies through this year is still up for debate. The report also highlights the importance of those subsidies. (Mershon, 3/15)
