Dive Brief:
- A new analysis shows that since the provisions of the Affordable Care Act were put in place, 17.6 million people have gained health coverage and an additional 10.5 million uninsured people are eligible for coverage.
- Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia M. Burwell highlighted the numbers while discussing the impact of the first five years of the ACA and the upcoming third open enrollment period in a speech this week at the Howard University College of Medicine.
- Challenges for the next enrollment will include targeting the remaining uninsured, Burwell said.
Dive Insight:
HHS attributes the reduction in uninsured people to three main points from the ACA:
- Adults up to age 26 being allowed to remain on their parents’ health plans;
- Medicaid expansion in 29 states and DC; and
- Availability of affordable health plans through the federal and state marketplaces.
“Five years in, millions of people have new coverage and the percentage of the uninsured has been reduced to the lowest level on record,” Burwell said. “We now have a new opportunity before us to build on this progress."
She acknowledged the third open enrollment, set to begin November 1, will be tougher because the remaining uninsured may be harder to reach. She says HHS is "working smarter" to reach them.
Burwell says the department’s top target outreach areas are Dallas, Houston, northern New Jersey, Chicago and Miami, which have the highest rates of uninsured people who are eligible for coverage.