Obamacare numbers rise despite Trump's plan

President-elect Donald Trump's pledge to pull the plug on the Affordable Care Act has not stopped people in Ventura County and elsewhere from enrolling in plans through the marketplace created by the controversial law, said local and statewide officials.

Leaders of Covered California, the state exchange created through the reform dubbed "Obamacare," said more than 25,000 Californians enrolled in plans for 2017 on Monday and Tuesday alone. The 153,000 total new enrollees compares to 144,000 people at the same time last year.

The enrollment deadline for people who want coverage to kick in on Jan. 1 was pushed back from Thursday to midnight Saturday.

Open enrollment continues through Jan. 31 but people who sign up at the tail end of that period won't have coverage until March.

Trump wants to repeal and replace the reform law that spawned the exchange that covers 35,000 people in Ventura County as of March. In addition to the more than 150,000 new enrollees across the state, more than 1.2 million Californians have renewed coverage.

While Trump has said the government will act quickly, some Republican proposals include a transition period. Covered California officials acknowledge they don't know what will happen but expressed confidence coverage will be intact throughout 2017.

"On the record, I would say change takes time," said Covered California spokesman James Scullary, contending the uncertain future hasn't affected demand for coverage.

In Ventura County, officials at some sites said enrollment is about the same as last year. Others said sign-ups appear down but lay blame on premium increases, not the status of Obamacare.

Roger Hayek, a Newbury Park insurance agent, cited a Los Angeles area couple that paid about $30 a month for insurance this year but face 2017 costs of $240 a month after subsidies.

Earlier this year, Covered California officials projected premium increases for 2017 of nearly 16 percent in the region that includes Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. They said those increases could be at least partly offset by subsidies and the ability to switch to different Covered California plans with less expensive premiums.

Hayek said costs are pushing people away from enrolling, but inquiries about Covered California have not waned at all because of Trump's election.

"I'm not hearing that," Hayek said, noting people tell him, "We might as well get coverage today. Whatever happens in the future, we can't control it."

Catherine Pedrosa of the United Way of Ventura County also enrolls people, making sure they know of Trump's plans to repeal and replace. She hasn't seen much of a change.

"As long as the insurance is there, they're going to try to access it," she said.

In a Ventura County shopping center on Wednesday, some people re-enrolling in plans purchased through Covered California said bypassing the coverage would have meant going without insurance.

"That's really the only kind of health care I can afford," said a woman who declined to give her name because of her employer's policies on talking to the media.

Mark Eaton, who owns Bill's Bike Shop in Camarillo, said he checked other prices and decided staying with Covered California, and receiving a federal subsidy was the best plan. It doesn't mean he's not worried about the next turns in an insurance price cycle that resembles a roller coaster.

"Health insurance always worries me," he said.

Local help

To find local help in enrolling in plans through Covered California, go here.