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The Obama administration said Wednesday that it expected monthly enrollment in the Affordable Care Act marketplace to average 11.4 million next year, up 9 percent from the monthly average this year, despite rising premiums and the departure of major insurers from the marketplace in many places. (Pear, 10/19)

Some 13.8 million people are expected to sign up for 2017 coverage, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said. That would be an increase of a bit less than 9 percent from the 12.7 million who picked plans during open enrollment for this year. This year is shaping up to be the most difficult sign-up season since HealthCare.gov launched in 2013 and the computer system froze up. But technology isn't the issue this time. Premiums are going up by double digits in many communities, and some major insurers have left the program, leaving consumers with fewer choices next year. (Alonson-Zaldivar, 10/19)

HHS is predicting about 9% more people will sign up for coverage on the Affordable Care Act exchanges during the next open-enrollment period, but the estimate is still below the most recent projections from the Congressional Budget Office. The final open-enrollment period for the Barack Obama administration begins Nov. 1. That is just one week before voters head to the polls to elect the next president. The candidates have presented starkly different plans for the future of healthcare, with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton saying she would build upon and strengthen the ACA and Republican nominee Donald Trump vowing to repeal it. (Muchmore, 10/19)

The administration is under pressure to bolster enrollment to help stanch insurers’ financial losses, which have led some major carriers to pull out or scale back from the exchanges. To boost enrollment, the government will use television ads, direct mail and other targeted outreach efforts to potential enrollees, particularly young people. But the enrollment period, which starts Nov. 1 and runs through Jan. 31, 2017, also coincides with political turbulence brought about by the campaigns, the election and the transition to a new president and Congress in January. (Armour, 10/19)

Burwell used the annual enrollment prediction as a kind of paean to what she heralded as “the biggest step forward in a generation” — the administration’s work to usher in insurance that is better, more affordable and more broadly available. She acknowledged that future ACA proponents will need Congress as a partner to accomplish any “substantial changes” in the law, including a public insurance option to foster more market competition in places with few insurers. The secretary contended that the law’s marketplace “is sustainable in terms of its size.” In remarks at HHS headquarters, she said that it is “strong — and will continue to be strong — because it is offering a product that people want and need.” (Goldstein, 10/19)

“Building a new market is never easy,” Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell said Wednesday in remarks at the agency. “And as I’ve said before, we expect this to be a transition period for the marketplace. Issuers are adjusting their prices, bringing them in line with actual data on their costs. And at HHS, we’re enhancing the stability of the marketplace, and making it stronger for the future.” But Burwell renewed calls on Congress to help make adjustments to the law to make the marketplaces more sustainable. (Levey, 10/19)

Burwell said challenges should be expected, given that "this is a complicated thing." She pointed to several proposals, such as creating a public option, that would stabilize the system. And she pinned some of these difficulties on the law's opponents, who've fought it "at every turn." "It's like you're in a boat, somebody is shooting in the boat and water is coming in," she told a group of reporters before a news conference. "And then they are like, 'Water is coming in!' ... That has made this challenge even harder." (Benning, 10/19)

The forecast illustrates the administration’s confidence in enrolling more people and keeping those who are covered from dropping out in a challenging year. But the Obamacare exchanges are still not attracting enough young, healthy and higher-income individuals who could help spread the health-care costs of the sickest over a bigger group. “What we are still missing is the young and invincible,” said Deep Banerjee, an analyst at S&P Global Ratings. “The exchange market has to grow a lot more to become stable.” (Tracer and Doherty, 10/19)

Rate hikes are likely on the way for plans offered on the health law’s online exchanges, or marketplaces. Consumers’ out-of-pocket costs are expected to climb, and some major insurers are pulling out. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell Wednesday acknowledged that the Affordable Care Act’s fourth enrollment season, scheduled to begin Nov. 1 and run until Jan. 31, is a pivotal time for President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement. (Carey, 10/19)

President Barack Obama on Thursday will head to the election battleground state Florida to give his prescription for fixing the Affordable Care Act, his signature healthcare law, but any remedies will be left up to his successor and the next Congress. (Humer, 10/20)

President Barack Obama wants to encourage people to sign up for health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act during an upcoming enrollment period. It's the final sign-up season for Obama's prized health care overhaul and he wants it to be a success. But his signature domestic achievement is being buffeted by double-digit premium increases and fewer insurers offering coverage. (Superville, 10/20)

The Obama administration is making a push to strengthen ObamaCare and make it more sustainable before leaving office. The enrollment period for 2017, which begins Nov. 1, comes at a challenging time for the healthcare law. Insurers have been dropping out of its marketplaces and hiking premiums due to financial losses from ObamaCare plans. Reversing that trend will require more people and healthier people to sign up. (Sullivan, 10/19)

Major insurers participating in Obamacare have won approval for substantial premium hikes next year in a dozen or more states. The increases range as high as 30 percent to 50 percent, according to new data. Shaken by the decisions of Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Blue Cross Blue Shield and other giants to pull out of many states after incurring hundreds of millions in losses, state insurance regulators appear more than willing to go along with these rate increases to prop up insurers remaining in the program. Leading carriers that intend to continue selling individual policies on the government-subsidized and operated exchanges next year have been granted average premium increases of 30 percent or more in Alabama, Delaware, Hawaii, Kansas, Mississippi and Texas, according to The Wall Street Journal. (Pianin, 10/19)

After months of health insurer exits from the Affordable Care Act marketplace in Arizona, state regulators have approved plans from two companies that will be the only marketplace insurance providers next year. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona will sell marketplace plans in every county except Maricopa County in 2017. The Phoenix-based insurer's average rates will increase 51 percent, Arizona Department of Insurance filings show. (Alltucker, 10/19)