A record 21.3 million Americans flocked to Affordable Care Act coverage for 2024, further cementing the law’s place in the nation’s health care landscape.
Nearly 5 million more people signed up for Obamacare policies for this year compared with last year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, said Wednesday. Notably, about a quarter of people selecting plans were new consumers.
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The explosion in interest in Obamacare policies would make it harder for Trump to dismantle the health reform law, as he and congressional Republicans unsuccessfully tried to do after he took office in 2017. Only about 12.2 million people signed up for Affordable Care Act coverage during that open enrollment period. (Consumers are not considered enrolled until they pay their first month’s premium.)
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One thing that may be contributing to the increase in Obamacare enrollment is the tidal wave of low-income Americans who are losing Medicaid coverage. States were allowed to start terminating the coverage of residents they deemed ineligible last April after a Covid-19 pandemic relief provision expired. Nearly 15.8 million people have been disenrolled so far, according to KFF, formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Navigators at Florida Covering Kids & Families have been reaching out to those who have lost their Medicaid coverage by phone and email to see if they are interested in signing up for Affordable Care Act policies. Low-income enrollees are eligible for federal subsidies that greatly reduce their premiums and out-of-pocket costs.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
“The American people have made it clear: they don’t want the Affordable Care Act weakened and repealed – they want it strengthened and protected,” Biden said in a statement Wednesday.
“It would be politically very, very risky to tell all those people that you are going to take away the source of affordable coverage that they’re depending on,” said Katherine Hempstead, a senior policy adviser at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which funds health care research and grants.
At the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, 34 navigators helped up to 120 residents select plans each week during this open enrollment season, which ran from November 1 through January 16, said Daniel Bouton, vice president for health and wellness at the nonprofit group.
Navigators at Florida Covering Kids & Families have been reaching out to those who have lost their Medicaid coverage by phone and email to see if they are interested in signing up for Affordable Care Act policies.
The new customers helped by her team of 17 navigators, who sometimes had appointments until midnight, ranged from young adults who were uninsured or who could no longer stay on their parents’ plans after turning 26 to retirees who were a few years shy of qualifying for Medicare.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it is being more targeted in its marketing efforts so it reaches people who need health coverage, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the agency’s administrator, told CNN in an exclusive interview.
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