Strong suppport for ‘Obamacare’
WASHINGTON » In a remarkably strong show of consumer demand, nearly 9 million people signed up for “Obamacare” next year, as government numbers out Thursday proved predictions of its collapse wrong yet again.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said more than 8.8 million people have signed up in the 39 states served by the federal HealthCare.gov website.
That compares with 9.2 million last year in the same states— or 96 percent of the previous total.
The level exceeds what experts thought was possible after another year of political battles over the Affordable Care Act, not to mention market problems like rising premiums and insurer exits. On top of that, the Trump administration cut enrollment season in half, slashed the ad budget, terminated major payments to insurers, and scaled back grants for consumer counselors.
“This level of enrollment is truly remarkable, especially given the headwinds faced by the program,” said Larry Levitt of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.
President Donald Trump insistently predicted “Obamacare” would implode as he pursued unsuccessful efforts to repeal it in Congress. This week, he incorrectly declared the GOP tax bill had essentially repealed it.
Despite all that, more than 1 million new customers signed up last week, ahead of a Dec. 15 deadline for HealthCare.gov. That’s a sign of solid interest in the program, which offers subsidized private health insurance to people who don’t have access to job-based coverage.
It’s possible that final HealthCare.gov numbers could end up somewhat higher than reported Thursday, partly because late sign-ups in the Midwest and the West have yet to be added in.
The nationwide enrollment total won’t be known for weeks, since some states running their own health insurance markets — or exchanges— continue signing up customers through January.
Total national enrollment could wind up near last year’s final number of 12.2 million.
Among the Health Care. gov states, Florida led in enrollments, with 1.7 million people so far. Texas was next, with 1.1 million. Signups for those states could rise, since a deadline extension is available for people in hurricane-affected areas.