Dive Brief:
- About 12.7 million people had either selected new marketplace health plans or were automatically re-enrolled in plans as of January 31, the end of the latest open enrollment, the HHS has announced. Another 400,000 signed up for ACA-supported health coverage through New York and Minnesota's Basic Health Program.
- HHS says that number exceeds its goal and notes of the 9.6 million who obtained coverage through HealthCare.gov, about 42% were new marketplace consumers.
- Further, HHS notes a higher percentage of young enrollees this year, with 2.7 million people between 18 and 34 signed up in the HealthCare.gov states.
Dive Insight:
ACA plan business is looking good from the government's perspective in terms of getting more people covered.
"It’s clear that Marketplace coverage is a product people want and need," HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell stated. "We again see that the ACA is helping millions of people, and has become a crucial part of health care in America."
However, ACA plan business is not looking as good from the perspectives of some major insurers that have been criticizing the government over issues they say have been costing them money, including excessive special enrollment opportunities. Some insurers, including UnitedHealth and Oscar, have aimed to minimize enrollment in their ACA plans by removing or reducing commissions to brokers.
Meanwhile, with UnitedHealth being the most vocal critic of the ACA business landscape after losing $475 million in 2015 and predicting worse for 2016, Covered California Executive Director Peter Lee suggested last week the outcry is a cover for business mistakes.