Obamacare sign-ups fall under Trump
Slowdown occurred in enrollment period’s final two weeks, federal data show.
WASHINGTON — Enrollment in Obamacare health plans sagged markedly after President Trump’s inauguration, according to new federal data that show sign-ups slowed in the final two weeks of the 2017 open enrollment period as Trump stepped up attacks on the healthcare law.
The slowdown is particularly noteworthy because enrollment was running slightly ahead of last year’s pace until Trump took office Jan. 20 amid renewed promises to scrap the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
Altogether this year, slightly more than 9.2 million people signed up for coverage in the 39 states that use the HealthCare.gov marketplace operated by the federal government.
That is down from more than 9.6 million who signed up last year.
The tally — which doesn’t include sign-ups in 11 states, including California, that operate their own marketplaces — is still substantial, undercutting claims by Republicans that the healthcare law is collapsing.
But the drop-off in the last two weeks fed criticism that the Trump administration is sabotaging the marketplaces to strengthen its argument that the law must be scrapped.
“There is no doubt that enrollment would have been even higher if not for the uncertainty caused by political attacks on the law, and the Trump administration’s decision not to provide consumers with all of the resources and support available to help them enroll,” said Anne Filipic, president of Enroll America, which helps consumers sign up for coverage.
Within days of taking office two weeks ago, the administration pulled TV ads urging Americans to sign up for health insurance.
Trump also issued an executive order in which he suggested his administration wouldn’t implement rules crucial to sustaining markets.
And over the last two weeks, Trump and many GOP lawmakers have stepped up their criticism of the marketplaces.
Only about 376,000 people selected a health plan through HealthCare.gov in the two weeks leading up to the Tuesday deadline, according to the new data.
By comparison, nearly 687,000 people chose plans through HealthCare.gov in the final week of the open enrollment period last year.
Total national enrollment, including sign-ups from state marketplaces, will be available in March, Trump administration officials said.
About 11 million people got commercial health plans last year through HealthCare.gov and similar statebased marketplaces created through the law.
More than 80% of these consumers receive government subsidies to offset the cost of their premiums.
There have been widespread concerns that the markets could collapse as insurers raised premiums sharply this year in the face of more costly than expected patients, and others left markets around the country.
Some Americans saw their monthly insurance bills rise by hundreds of dollars.
On Friday, Republicans continued to advance their clams that the collapse has started.
“People may be enrolled, but that doesn’t mean Obamacare is working,” said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.).
But many industry officials, healthcare experts and consumer advocates, while urging changes to the marketplaces, have concluded that the GOP repeal effort represents the largest threat to the marketplaces.
More than 20 million previously uninsured Americans have gained health insurance, data show, and the nation’s uninsured rate dropped to the lowest level ever recorded.