ICYMI: ‘Nearly One Million People Signed Up For Obamacare Coverage This Spring’

WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, new data from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shows how private plans and public programs are working together to expand access to affordable, high-quality health coverage and care to Americans – especially as consumers utilize the enhanced subsidies now available under the recently-enacted American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). 

The New York Times reports:

• Costs have decreased: “With that additional funding, the average monthly premium that Healthcare.gov consumers paid fell to $86 for those signing up in April, down from $117 in February and March (before the new subsidies).”
• Major coverage gains: “Nearly one million Americans have signed up for Affordable Care Act coverage during the first 10 weeks of a special open enrollment period the Biden administration began in February.”
• Benefits of recent subsidies: “Of those new enrollees, nearly half bought coverage last month, after Congress added billions in subsidies included in the most recent stimulus package.”
• There could be even more sign-ups: “The [HHS enrollment] numbers undercount the overall new insurance sign-ups; they reflect enrollment only in the 36 states with marketplaces that the federal government manages.”

Similar data are beginning to emerge in states with state-based marketplaces. 

• “17,282 Coloradans have signed up for a health insurance plan since Connect for Health Colorado re-opened enrollment on Feb. 8, with more than 7,500 sign ups in the last month alone. That uptick in enrollments coincides with the date that Connect for Health Colorado began offering increased savings on health insurance to residents of all income ranges following the passage of the American Rescue Plan,” Connect for Health Colorado, the state’s health insurance exchange, announced last week.

The facts show that now is the time to build on and improve what is working in health care – not create one-size-fits-all government health insurance systems such as “Medicare at 60,” Medicare buy-in or the public option, which could ultimately lead to many of the same consequences as Medicare for All.

To learn more about the Partnership for America’s Health Care Future, CLICK HERE.