For Obamacare, Upcoming Enrollment Season Will Be Toughest Yet, Burwell Says
HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell says the administration estimates that nearly 18 million people have gained insurance so far as a result of the health law, but officials will now be setting their sights on the less eager consumers.
The Wall Street Journal:
HHS Secretary Says Coming Sign-Up Season Will Be Toughest Yet Under Health Law
Top Obama administration officials said Tuesday they were anticipating their toughest sign-up season yet for insurance coverage under the health law. Officials aim to make a dent in the number Americans still uninsured in the law’s third enrollment period. They are eyeing about 10.5 million people who could buy coverage through HealthCare.gov or state sites, often with federal subsidies to offset premiums, but who have resisted signing up as the law rolled out. (Radnofsky, 9/22)
The New York Times:
U.S. Targets Four States In Effort To Enroll The Uninsured
With the third open enrollment season under the Affordable Care Act beginning in about six weeks, Obama administration officials said Tuesday that they would focus efforts to expand health coverage to the uninsured in Dallas, Houston, northern New Jersey, Chicago and Miami. (Pear, 9/22)
The Associated Press:
Uninsured Are Getting Harder To Sign Up
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell on Tuesday gave three reasons why the 2016 sign-up season will be a bigger challenge: The most eager customers have already signed up; many of the remaining uninsured are young adults who may not see the value of coverage and those who remain are juggling tight household budgets. (9/22)
USA Today:
Feds Say Nearly 18 Million Now Insured Through Obamacare
Citing just-released federal data, Burwell said the 17.6 million people who gained coverage included children up to age 26 who were able to stay on their parents plans, the expansion of Medicaid and the availability of the state and federal insurance exchanges. Speaking at Howard University in Washington — one of the historically black colleges and universities — Burwell also noted that the uninsured rate dropped 10.3% among African-Americans as 2.6 million gained coverage. Four million Latino adults also became insured, representing an 11.5% decline in the rate of uninsured Hispanics. (O'Donnell, 9/22)
The Washington Post:
Third ACA Sign-Up Period To Focus On 10.5 Million Uninsured Americans
According to estimates released Tuesday by Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, that is the size of a group — disproportionately young adults or minorities — that lacks health coverage and qualifies to buy health plans through insurance exchanges created by the law. (Goldstein, 9/22)
Kaiser Health News:
HHS Vows Push To Enroll More Uninsured In Obamacare This Fall
Affordability continues to be a challenge, she said. Even with the law’s financial help to pay for premiums and out-of-pocket costs, some uninsured may simply not have the money to pay for coverage. Almost 40 percent of the uninsured who qualify for marketplace coverage earn between 139 and 250 percent of the poverty level, about $30,000 to $60,000 a year for a family of four, Burwell said. Nearly 60 percent of the uninsured are either confused about how the tax credits work or don’t know that they are available, and about half of the uninsured have less than $100 in savings, Burwell said. (Carey, 9/22)