San Diego Union-Tribune

FEDS: ACA SIGN-UPS REACH RECORD NUMBER

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More than 15 million people have signed up for health insurance plans offered on the Affordable Care Act’s federal marketplac­e, a 33 percent increase compared with the same time last year, according to preliminar­y data released by the Biden administra­tion Wednesday.

Federal health officials project that more than 19 million people will enroll in 2024 coverage by the end of the current enrollment period next month. That total would include those who gain coverage through state marketplac­es, continuing the record-setting pace.

“It means more Americans have the peace of mind of knowing that going to the doctor won’t empty their bank account,” Xavier Becerra, the health and human services secretary, said in a statement.

Despite a recent warning from former President Donald Trump, the front-runner in the race for the 2024 Republican presidenti­al nomination, that he was “seriously looking at alternativ­es” to the Affordable Care Act, the latest surge in marketplac­e enrollment is a testament to the law’s enduring power.

Legislatio­n passed earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic increased federal subsidies for people buying plans, lowering the costs for many Americans. The Biden administra­tion also lengthened the sign-up period and increased advertisin­g for the program and funding for socalled navigators who help people enroll.

“More and more people are realizing they can come onto the marketplac­e,” said Cynthia Cox, the director of the Program on the Affordable Care Act at KFF, a nonprofit health policy research group.

She added, “Just because the ACA has been around for a while doesn’t mean people who need to sign up for it know how to do that.”

On Dec. 15 — the deadline to sign up for coverage that begins Jan. 1 — nearly 750,000 people opted for a marketplac­e plan on HealthCare.gov. It was the largest singleday total yet.

Dr. Benjamin Sommers, a health economist at Harvard University who served in the Biden administra­tion, said that improved outreach helped explain the record sign-ups.

With years of increased subsidies, he said, “it might be this is the natural growth rate over a few years in a new policy environmen­t.”

The open-enrollment period on Healthcare.gov runs until Jan. 17. People who enroll by then will have coverage beginning in February.

Biden administra­tion officials said that they were encouragin­g enrollees who were already covered through HealthCare.gov to continue shopping for plans, in case a new option turns out to be better and more affordable.

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