Experts expecting chaotic Affordable Care Act sign-ups

WASHINGTON — It’s sign-up season for the Affordable Care

Act, but the Trump administration isn’t making it easy — cutting the enrollment period in half, slashing advertising and dialing back on counselors who help consumers get through the process.

Many people already faced fewer choices and higher premiums. But President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel a subsidy to insurers that lowers consumer costs compounded the turmoil, pushing premiums even higher.

Add it all up and the number of uninsured people may start rising again, eroding gains that drove the uninsured rate to a historic low.

“It certainly is a hostile takeover,” said health policy expert Joe Antos of the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute.

“We are going to see a decline in enrollment,” he added. “The people who will drop out in droves are the ones who are not getting a premium subsidy.”

Open enrollment starts Wednesday and ends Dec. 15 in most states, a sign-up period six weeks shorter than last year’s.

Some 9 million to 10 million people currently have private plans through the ACA’S government-sponsored markets. More than 8 in 10 receive subsidized premiums, and are cushioned from rate increases. Federal help paying premiums is still available despite GOP efforts to repeal the health law.

In states served by the HealthCare.gov website, premiums will go up 37 percent for a hypothetical 27-year-old picking a standard plan called “second-lowest cost silver,” the Health and Human Services department reported Monday.

With insurers exiting the market, about half of counties will only have one participating carrier offering plans. Eight states have only one insurer.

But subsidies for premiums are also going up — by 45 percent on average. That means current customers receiving financial help have a strong incentive to renew.

How many new people will join remains an open question, even if they’re eligible for help with premiums. New enrollees are vital because healthier, younger people are needed to keep rising premiums from destabilizing the marketplaces.

Already this year there was a big drop-off among consumers who buy individual coverage outside the government markets, and aren’t eligible for premium subsidies.