ACCORDING to a federal report, over half a million enrollees selected or renewed their health insurance plans during the first week of the 2015 enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
Between Nov. 15 and Nov. 21st, the US Department of Health and Human Services reported that around 462,125 people signed up for a plan through HealthCare.gov, the federally-run insurance marketplace that serves 37 states nationwide.
In addition, thousands signed up for coverage on state-run marketplaces in the remaining 13 states, including California, Maryland, Connecticut, and the District of Columbia.
The HealthCare.gov total—split roughly evenly between new enrollees and people renewing their coverage from last year—is a major advance from 2013’s enrollment period, when the website was having technical issues and did not work for over a month.
This time, it appears the site is working better. More than 3.7 million users visited HealthCare.gov in the first week of the new enrollment period, according to the health agency.
Nationwide call centers also reported vast improvements, with a little more than three minutes wait-time average.
Still, it remains unclear whether President Obama’s health plan will be able to hit enrollment targets by the time the sign-up period closes, in 2½ months.
The tally, released Wednesday, counts only plan selections and not the number of people who paid premiums, which is usually lower. Consumers have until the middle of December to pay in order to guarantee their coverage starting Jan. 1st.
“We had a solid start, but we have a lot of work to do every day between now and Feb. 15,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, referring to the date that open enrollment under Obamacare ends.
The law this year allowed Americans who don’t get health benefits at work to shop among plans on new state-based marketplaces.
Consumers making less than four times the federal poverty level—or about $94,000 for a family of four—can qualify for subsidies.
Though an imprecise metric, total enrollment in the marketplaces has been watched closely because sustained growth is considered vital to reducing the number of uninsured and keeping premiums in check by getting healthier Americans into the growing market.
The Obama administration has already substantially reduced enrollment targets for 2015.
Instead of 13 million customers in the second year of the marketplaces, as once predicted, the Department of Health and Human Services says that 9 to 9.9 million people will most likely get coverage by the end of next year.
About 6.7 million people had health plans through the marketplaces before the current open enrollment period began on Nov. 15, according to the department.
Surveys also suggest that about 8 to 10 million uninsured people have signed up for coverage since the enrollment marketplace opened this year, and Medicaid was expanded in many states under the law. However, at least 30 million people in the US remain uninsured.
(With reports from Los Angeles Times)
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(LA Weekend November 29 – December 2, 2014 Sec. A pg.1)
