First Obamacare deadline had big late rush
About 400,000 more people signed up for insurance on the federal health care exchange before the deadline Monday than at the same point last year, a sign that fears of being uninsured may be eclipsing concerns that rates are too high.
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said Wednesday that 6.4 million people signed up for insurance effective Jan. 1, compared to 6 million by this deadline last year. Her announcement marks the last Affordable Care Act deadline the Obama administration official will preside over and follow several record breaking days of signups since the federal and state insurance exchanges launched three years ago.
The news also comes as President-elect Donald Trump and Republican leaders in Congress vow to repeal the law and replace it with their own option at some unclear point, which may be after the 2018 mid-term elections.
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"Some of the doomsday predictions about the marketplace are not bearing out," Burwell told reporters.
About 4 million of those who signed up so far this year were renewing coverage, but Burwell said she expects more of the people who enroll ahead of the Jan. 31 deadline for 2017 coverage will be new customers. ACA critics charge the law has mainly attracted sicker people who have driven up the rates for others.
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To further attract new — healthier — consumers, HHS plans to step up advertising next month, especially on social media. The Internal Revenue Service will also contact those who will have to pay penalties if they don't sign up next month.
"People may know that change is coming, but their demand for health insurance is not changing, so it is not surprising to see much of this population renew their coverage," says Katherine Hempstead, who heads the insurance coverage team at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Insurers say they have a contract to provide customers with insurance for 2017, and "it's a contract they'll continue to honor," says Burwell.
"The ACA is the law of the land," she said. "Millions of Americans are taking that to heart."
The uptick in the number of people who have shopped around could be because many people lost their plans when their insurers dropped out of the state and federal health exchange, says Hempstead.
"But it could also reflect an increased desire for certainty and assurance that their coverage is in place," says Hempstead.