More than half of ObamaCare signups were new customers
More than half of the nearly 9 million people who enrolled in ObamaCare coverage through the federal website were new customers, the administration said Wednesday, touting the number to show the vibrancy of the law.
Fifty-three percent of the 8.84 million people who signed up through Healthcare.gov were new to ObamaCare this year. The administration had previously praised the better-than-expected total number of enrollments, but it was unclear how many already had health insurance.
{mosads}“These numbers tell a powerful story of a strong open enrollment and of engaged and satisfied consumers,” Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said in a statement. “[T]hese are signs of a vibrant marketplace where customers are actively engaged in choosing their health coverage — and of a product that families want, need and appreciate.”
The other 47 percent of sign-ups were re-enrollments from people who already had coverage. Twenty-two percent were automatically re-enrolled, and 25 percent actively chose a plan again.
The administration touted that more than half of the people who actively re-enrolled in coverage, around 1.2 million people, chose a new plan. It said that was a higher rate than with other kinds of health insurance and an indication that people are engaged with ObamaCare.
“Based on my experience looking at enrollment trends with employer-sponsored coverage and Medicare, it is clear that Marketplace consumers are more active, engaged and eager to shop for the coverage that’s right for them,” said Andy Slavitt, the deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
These numbers are only for the 37 states that rely on the federal exchange. The administration has also been touting the 11.4 million signups that came on both state and federal exchanges combined.
The string of news the Obama administration is releasing about ObamaCare numbers comes the week before arguments in a Supreme Court case that could gut the law. The case of King v. Burwell could invalidate subsidies to help people buy insurance on the roughly three dozen federally-run exchanges.
“One thing is for sure, Americans don’t want the progress we’ve made to be taken away from them,” Burwell said in announcing signup numbers last week.
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