Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Enrollment Numbers Still Tracking Higher Than Last Year's Despite Uncertainty
More than 8.8 million Americans signed up for 2017 insurance coverage through HealthCare.gov as of Jan. 14, 2017, about 100,000 more than over a similar time frame last year. The enrollment snapshot provided Wednesday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is the final one of President Barack Obama鈥檚 administration. The numbers do not include people in the 12 state-based marketplaces that use their own websites. About 2.8 million people in these states were enrolled as of Dec. 24. (Willilams, 1/18)
With less than two weeks left to sign up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act, advocates and officials launched their last push to draw Maryland residents. The effort announced Wednesday involves enrolling people through churches and other faith-based groups, a campaign called "Extol & Enroll." "It is important to us that our people have adequate health care and are living healthy lives," said the Rev. Cleveland Mason, president of the United Baptist Missionary Convention of Maryland. He spoke during a news conference Wednesday that drew lawmakers, advocates from the Healthcare for All! Coalition and the NAACP, and officials from the state health exchange, the online market created to enroll people who do not get health insurance through work. (Cohn, 1/18)
