The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
30°F
Current Conditions
Snow
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

ACA signups spike at open enrollment’s start

In this Oct. 6, 2015, file photo, the HealthCare.gov website, where people can buy health insurance, is displayed on a laptop screen in Washington. More than 200,000 Americans chose a plan on Nov. 1, 2017, the day open enrollment began, according to an administration official. That’s more than double the number of consumers who signed up on the first day of enrollment last year. (Andrew Harnik / Associated Press)
By Juliet Eilperin Washington Post

Under the first few days of open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act, the numbers of participants has surged compared to the past, according to federal officials who asked for anonymity because the administration has yet to release official numbers.

More than 200,000 Americans chose a plan on Nov. 1, the day open enrollment began, according to one administration official. That’s more than double the number of consumers who signed up on the first day of enrollment last year. More than 1 million people visited HeathCare.gov, the official federal website, this official said, which amounts to a roughly 33 percent increase in traffic compared to 2016.

These figures only capture a portion of the nation’s overall ACA enrollment, because they encompass states that either use the federal health care marketplace or rely on its website for their consumers to sign up for coverage. More than a dozen states and the District of Columbia run their own programs and do not use HealthCare.gov.

The Hill first reported the uptick in enrollment on Monday night.

An official at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services who was not authorized to speak on the record said in an email that the agency was not releasing numbers at this time. “We plan to release enrollment snapshot data regularly throughout open enrollment as we have done in the past,” the official said.

Many advocates of the law known as Obamacare were concerned that consumers wouldn’t sign up for coverage because Congress had tried to repeal it multiple times this year and President Donald Trump had repeatedly described it as either “failing” or “dead.”

But on opening day many state exchange officials said enrollment had exceeded their projections.

Connect for Health Colorado spokesman Luke Clarke said state officials had anticipated 2,700 residents would log onto their exchange, but more than 4,000 did. “Enrollment year five could be a record year,” Clarke said. “It’s way ahead of where we were last year, and a big surprise.”