Record 14.5M Americans sign up for ACA coverage

Congressional action still needed to extend ‘Obamacare’ subsidies next year

WASHINGTON — At least 14.5 million Americans are getting private health insurance for this year under the Obama-era health law, thanks to help from the Biden administration.

“Health care should be a right, not a privilege, for all Americans,” President Joe Biden said Thursday in a statement announcing the numbers. “We are making that right a reality for a record number of people, bringing down costs and increasing access for families across the country.”

But progress could prove fleeting if congressional Democrats remain deadlocked over Biden’s social agenda package. Biden’s earlier coronavirus relief bill has been providing generous subsidy increases that benefit new and returning customers by lowering premiums and out-of-pocket costs. The enhanced financial assistance is temporary. It will go away at the end of 2022 without congressional action to extend it additional years or make it permanent, included in the social agenda legislation.

Separately, the Department of Health and Human Services said the latest information from a major ongoing federal survey suggests that the nation’s uninsured rate dipped last year, as the Biden administration provided a special sign-up period due to the pandemic. The uninsured rate was 8.9% in the three-month period from July to September 2021, compared with 10.3% for the final three months of 2020.

“Those are all arrows ... in the right direction,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said.

The ACA, better known as “Obamacare,” offers health insurance to people who lack job-based coverage through a mix of subsidized private plans and expanded Medicaid, which is provided in most states. Thursday’s numbers reflect the private insurance side of the program, available in all states through HealthCare.gov or staterun health insurance markets. All told, the number of people covered though the Obama law is estimated around 30 million.

“This did not happen by accident,” Biden said. His COVID-19 relief bill, he noted, “did more to lower costs and expand access to health care than any action since the passage of the Affordable Care Act.”

Besides improved subsidies, the Biden administration also focused more attention on outreach, increasing the number of enrollment counselors and stepping up advertising.

The administration is touting the 14.5 million sign-ups as a record, but that number is not strictly comparable to recent years because the federal open enrollment season was extended under Biden. The final number is likely to be even higher as several states are allowing residents to sign up until Monday. It’s working out to an increase of roughly 20% over last open enrollment season.

Some Democratic senators are expressing confidence that Congress will pass the extension of health care subsidies.

Biden wants to move the U.S. closer to coverage for all by building on existing programs like the Obama law and Medicaid, so a robust sign-up season was a priority for his administration.