ACA Enrollment Growing as Website Recovers from Rocky Rollout, But Still Short of Goal
Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), most Americans will be required to have health coverage by 2014. Uninsured Americans can shop for coverage options on the marketplace website, which opened on October 1, 2013. According to an Enrollment Report published December 11th, as of the end of November, 364,682 people nationally have selected health insurance plans through the healthcare exchanges. While this demonstrates a rise from approximately 100,000 enrollees in October to 260,000 in November, the Obama administration has vowed to hit a target of 7 million people.
Officials believe the November increase is a step in the right direction, including Michael Hash, director of the office of health reform in the Health and Human Services Department. “Of course, we’re only 2½ months into an open-enrollment period,” Hash stated, “We expect the bulk of enrollments will occur in the end of the open-enrollment period.” Furthermore, CMS spokeswoman Julie Bataille believes that the recent improvements to the exchange website will foster growth as well. “The HealthCare.gov website is night and day from where it was on October the first…It’s now easier than ever to shop for and compare coverage.”
While the November totals mean that the Obama administration is only about 4% of the way to its signup goal of 7 million, sources say that after a December 1st re-launch of the improved site, HealthCare.gov enrolled nearly 30,000 people in the first two days, a much-improved rate than seen in October and November.
It should be noted that the figures in Wednesday’s report include those who have selected private health insurance plans, even if they have not paid their first month’s premium, which is required for coverage to begin on January 1. Thus, despite the rising numbers of enrollees, Gail Wilensky, PhD, a senior fellow at Project HOPE in Bethesda, MD and administrator of the Medicare program during the George H.W. Bush administration, remains weary. Ms. Wilensky stated that information about plan selection means nothing without healthcare exchange data that reflect how many people have actually paid premiums. (MedPage Today). “Now that we are close to mid-December and within a couple of weeks of the start date, that omission is less acceptable and is a more relevant number about who is ready to put their money on the line.”
While Americans have until March 31, 2014 to enroll in health plans established by the ACA for 2014, they must enroll by December 23 in order to have those plans become effective on January 1, 2014.
Though the start of the enrollment program was rocky at best, many people will soon be signing up for health insurance, which in the end should help to bolster the medical economy.