Despite Looming Uncertainty, Health Law Enrollment Numbers Stay Steady
More than 300,000 people have signed up for coverage under the health law following Donald Trump's win.
The New York Times:
HealthCare.Gov Sees Early Rise In Enrollment Amid Worries On Law’s Future
More than a million people have signed up for 2017 health insurance coverage on HealthCare.gov, and more than 300,000 of them selected plans in the three days after Donald J. Trump won the presidential election, the Obama administration said on Wednesday. About one-fourth of those using the online exchange to sign up — 246,400 people — were new to the federal marketplace, and the other 761,800 were renewing coverage they had this year. (Pear, 11/16)
The Associated Press:
Early Sign-Ups For Health Care Law Are Steady, But No Surge
A little more than 1 million people renewed health coverage or signed up for the first time through HealthCare.gov around the start of open enrollment, which coincided with a GOP election sweep likely to scramble President Barack Obama's signature law. The figures released Wednesday by the Obama administration represent steady sign-ups but no enrollment surge so far. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 11/16)
The Wall Street Journal:
Sign-Ups Under Affordable Care Act So Far Seem Not Hurt By Donald Trump’s Win
The government says that more than a million people selected plans on the federal exchange during the first two weeks of open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act, indicating sign-ups so far haven’t been hurt by President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to repeal or amend the health law. (Armour, 11/16)
Modern Healthcare:
As Trump Plans ACA Repeal, HealthCare.Gov Enrollment Tops 1 Million
Despite a surge in enrollment in HealthCare.gov coverage the day after the presidential election, plan selections for the first two weeks of open enrollment are just slightly ahead of last year's. More than 1 million people have selected a plan through the HealthCare.gov marketplace in the first two weeks of open enrollment, the CMS said Wednesday. About a fourth of those plan selections were made by new marketplace customers, while the rest were made by shoppers returning to the exchange to renew their health coverage for 2017. Enrollment is moving at a slightly quicker pace than last year. Shoppers have made 53,000 more plan selections during the first 12 days of open enrollment this year than last year, the CMS said Wednesday. (Livingston, 11/16)
The Hill:
More Than 1 Million Sign Up For ObamaCare, HHS Says
More than 1 million people have registered for ObamaCare coverage for 2017 since the sign-up period began Nov. 1, the Obama administration announced Wednesday. The registrations include about 250,000 new consumers and 750,000 returning. The Obama administration used the numbers to argue that people still want ObamaCare coverage, despite the cloud of uncertainty hanging over the law due to GOP efforts to repeal it. (Sullivan, 11/16)
Bloomberg:
Obamacare Sign-Ups Outpace Last Year As 1 Million Pick Plans
More than 1 million people selected insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act in the first two weeks of sign-ups, outpacing last year, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a report Wednesday. From Nov. 1, when the sign-up markets opened, to Nov. 12, about 246,433 new consumers chose an Obamacare plan for next year, and 761,785 renewed their existing coverage. That amounts to about 53,000 more plans than were selected during the first 12 days of open enrollment last, year, the government said. (Doherty, 11/16)
Los Angeles Times:
More Than 300,000 Signed Up For Obamacare After Trump Was Elected
There were 53,000 more signups during the first 12 days of open enrollment this year than last, according to the health agency. The outpouring over the first two weeks of the enrollment period comes amid rising uncertainty about the fate of the insurance system set up by the 2010 health law. (Levey, 11/16)
California Healthline:
Electing To ‘Opt Out’ Of Obamacare
Steven Lopez has gone without health insurance for 15 years, and the Affordable Care Act hasn’t changed his mind. Once again this year he will forgo coverage, he said, even though it means another tax penalty. Last tax season, the 51-year-old information technology professional and his family paid a mandatory penalty of nearly $1,000, he said. That’s because they found it preferable to the $400 to $500 monthly cost of an Obamacare health plan. (Ibarra, 11/17)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Covered California Director Urges Enrollees To Ignore Trump-Caused Uncertainty
Covered California, the state’s health insurance exchange, is at a crossroads brought about by President-elect Donald Trump’s vow to repeal at least parts of the Affordable Care Act. Obamacare pays income-based subsidies to 87% of the 1.3 million Californians currently covered by plans sold through the exchange. Elimination of those payments could very well lead to mass cancellations by people no longer able to afford their insurance policies. (Sisson, 11/16)
Pioneer Press:
Amid ACA Uncertainty, Some Hold Off Buying MNsure Insurance
Fallout from this month’s election may be driving some Minnesotans to refrain from buying health insurance, MNsure leaders said Wednesday. President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican majorities in Congress have promised major changes to the country’s health care law, though exactly what will be kept from the Affordable Care Act passed under President Barack Obama remains uncertain. Meanwhile Republicans who have called to eliminate MNsure, Minnesota’s state-run health insurance exchange, have majorities in both chambers of the state Legislature. (Montgomery, 11/16)