Sign-ups for ACA in Texas beat low forecast

The preliminary tally of Texans who signed up for 2018 health coverage under the Affordable Care Act was just shy of the previous year even though the enrollment period was cut nearly in half.

About 1.1 million people in Texas enrolled for plans as of Dec. 23. That is 100,00 fewer than the 1.2 million who had signed up for 2017 plans, although it does not include all Texans who live in the wide swath of the state affected by Hurricane Harvey and were given an extra two weeks to sign up beyond the Dec. 15 deadline.

Final enrollment figures may not be available until March.

Nationally, just less than 8.8 million signed up for plans, compared to about 9.2 million the previous enrollment period, numbers from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services show.

This came as welcome news to proponents of the law known as Obamacare who had been bracing for significantly lower numbers following a

tumultuous year leading up to the Nov. 1 enrollment opening.

“We were pleasantly surprised,” Melissa McChesney, Houston-based policy analyst for the Center for Public Policy Priorities, said of the Texas enrollment.

Not only was the period sliced in half for most people, dropping to 45 days, but Republicans in Congress and President Donald Trump had made clear for all of 2017 that the law would soon be dead.

Advertising for 2018 enrollment was cut by 90 percent, grants withdrawn or cut for those who help people enroll, and the U.S. health and Human Services Department launched a series of videos featuring people who said they had been harmed by the law.

Administration officials have said such efforts were needed not only to eliminate waste from the sign-up process but also to highlight how many people were burdened by the law.

Backers of the law say even with the higher-than-expected enrollment numbers, the challenges are far from over. McChesney expects some enrollment drop-off in coming months, especially as those without financial subsidies find the sharply higher premiums for 2018 hard to afford.

She also worries that people will remain confused by the messages coming out of Washington, D.C., of the law’s demise.

Late last year, as part of Congress’ tax overhaul, the requirement that most everyone have health insurance, known as the individual mandate, was in essence removed. Beginning in 2019 people will no longer have to pay a penalty for not having insurance.

The president erroneously declared at the time that the entire law had been repealed.