Dive Brief:
- CMS administrator Marilyn Tavenner announced during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee meeting on Thursday that as of August 15, 7.3 million individuals with ACA plans were up to date on their premiums. In the reverse: 700,000 of the 8 million enrollees announced in April have stopped paying their premiums.
- 7.3 million, or 91%, is a much larger number than anyone had estimated. Setting aside dire prognostications from the Republican camp, even administration officials had the paid percentage pegged at 80% to 85%, or between 6.4 and 6.8 million people.
- The administration said that although it has no current figure for enrollment, the 7.3 million figure would likely rise as a result of enrollees who paid up after August 15. The figure also does not account for people who enrolled in a marketplace plan and either didn't pay their premiums or paid and then canceled coverage.
Dive Insight:
As with any nationwide figure about the Affordable Care Act, this 7.3 figure is more symbolic than actionable. Yes, this is a major victory for pro-Obamacare pundits and probably a frustrating blow to the conservatives who have been demanding the figure as the piece of evidence that might sink the legislation. But given the fragmented, state-by-state nature of coverage, the percentage of paid-up enrollees is likely to vary pretty dramatically from market to market.