WASHINGTON At least 7.1 million people so far have enrolled in 2015 health plans through the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplaces, according to a pair of federal reports issued Tuesday. <\/p>\n
As of Dec. 26, 6.5 million people signed up for coverage in federally run exchanges that includes new enrollments, people actively re-enrolling and existing customers who allowed their coverage to automatically renew, according to the Department of Health and Human Services' weekly enrollment update. <\/p>\n
A second HHS report, which provides the most comprehensive look at the new enrollment period, found that 633,000 people selected coverage in the 14 states running their own health insurance marketplaces as of Dec. 15. That's in addition to those who signed up through the federal exchanges, for a total of roughly 7.1 million. <\/p>\n
However, HHS said most states haven't reported complete information about the number of re-enrollments, meaning the actual enrollment count is likely higher. <\/p>\n
About 3.4 million people had actively selected an exchange plan in the 37 states relying on the HealthCare.gov enrollment platform as of Dec. 15, the federal deadline to sign up for coverage starting Jan. 1. About 87 percent of those people qualified for premium subsidies, and about 52 percent were purchasing coverage through the federal-run marketplaces for the first time this year. The remaining 48 percent were returning customers who either selected a new plan or actively re-enrolled in existing coverage. <\/p>\n
Just 106,000 people had selected exchange health plans in the first month of enrollment last year, when severe technology flaws threatened the launch of the law's coverage expansion. This current enrollment period has run much more smoothly, though some customers are experiencing problems on a smaller scale. <\/p>\n
Of the 3.4 million people selecting health plans through the federal enrollment website, 24 percent were between 18 and 34 years old, while 30 percent were between 55 and 64 years old. The young adult enrollment rate was up just slightly from 23 percent compared to the first three months of last year's enrollment season, the HHS said. <\/p>\n
Of the 37 states using the HealthCare.gov enrollment platform, Mississippi had the highest percentage of new customers (58 percent) choosing 2015 health plans, while Alaska, Maine and North Dakota shared the lowest (39 percent). About 673,000 people have already signed up for 2015 coverage in Florida, the most of any state. <\/p>\n
The administration seems likely to hit its own goal of enrolling 9.1 million people in 2015. That's significantly lower than the 13 million originally projected by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. <\/p>\n
The enrollment period is scheduled to end Feb. 15, just a few weeks before the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on a lawsuit challenging the legality of subsidies provided through the federal-run exchanges. If the Supreme Court accepts ACA opponents' argument that the law only authorizes subsidies in states that set up their own exchanges, that would invalidate financial assistance to millions of enrollees in states relying on HealthCare.gov. <\/p>\n
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Health care enrollment for 2015 plans tops 7 million<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WASHINGTON At least 7.1 million people so far have enrolled in 2015 health plans through the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplaces, according to a pair of federal reports issued Tuesday. Continue reading