Obamacare sign-ups fall short after slow finish
About 9.2 million people signed up for Obamacare coverage through HealthCare.gov during the 2017 enrollment season, the Trump administration announced Friday, marking the first time that enrollment through the federal website declined year over year.
The release of the figures this afternoon came just days after the Jan. 31 deadline for signups and after President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services nixed millions worth of ads designed to boost the numbers before the deadline.
The update from HHS does not include enrollment figures for the 11 states and the District of Columbia that have their own health exchanges. But even with those included, nationwide numbers are likely to fall short of the Obama administration’s estimate of 13.8 million signups during the latest enrollment season, which began Nov. 1.
Supporters of the law said the Trump administration’s decision to pull TV and other ads the last minute amounted to sabotage as the White House and Republican-led Congress moves to repeal the health law. Several advocates say the Trump administration’s broad directive to federal agencies on Obamacare also spurred confusion, to the point that people may have decided not to enroll because of uncertainty.
“Open enrollment was a success, and it would have been even higher without the Trump administration’s efforts to suppress enrollment,” Leslie Dach, who leads a campaign of liberal and other advocacy groups to fight Obamacare repeal, said in a statement. “Despite that, Americans continued to enroll in the final weeks, proving that there is considerable demand for quality and affordable coverage.”
Opponents of the law said the latest figures are further evidence that the health care law is falling apart.
“Enrollment numbers are down and costs are up. These cost hikes are exactly the reason why Republicans are committed to repealing and replacing Obamacare,” Sen. Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement Friday.
“Obamacare has failed the American people, with one broken promise after another,” HHS spokesman Matt Lloyd said Friday. “We look forward to providing relief to those who are being harmed by the status quo and pursuing patient-centered solutions that will work for the American people.”
The signup tally may still fluctuate slightly because certain states are still letting individuals enroll, including California and Minnesota. A detailed HHS report with final enrollment numbers for all 50 states is slated to be released in March.
During the last two weeks of open enrollment, only 376,000 people signed up for plans in the 39 states that use the federal enrollment website, a sharp contrast from prior years when large numbers of people would flock to the site before the deadline. Last year, in the final week alone, nearly 690,000 people enrolled in Obamacare plans through HealthCare.gov.
This time, the total number of people who chose plans through HealthCare.gov fell from the 9.6 million who opted in during the enrollment window for the 2016 plan year.
HealthCare.gov was experiencing heavy traffic on Jan. 31, with federal officials deploying a “waiting room” tool to handle high volume. But former Obama administration officials said the Trump administration’s decision to pull $4 million to $5 million in TV and digital ads timed for the final push likely dampened enrollment by roughly 500,000 people. Those individuals were also likely younger and healthier, a crucial cohort that balances out the costs of caring for sicker enrollees.