ACA enrollment surges forward as concern over ACA repeal floods CMS call center, CMS says
HHS Secretary Burwell says tens of thousands of calls voicing concern over ACA repeal, loss of coverage have flooded their call center.
A little more than 8.8 million Americans have signed up for coverage through Healthcare.gov for 2017 as of January 14, which is 100,000 more than this time last year.
A slight difference between the two periods is that this year Open Enrollment began on a Tuesday, instead of the standard Sunday through Saturday period, so the totals in this most recent snapshot reflect two fewer days than the same time period last year.
The report covers enrollment from January 1 through January 14. The snapshot doesn't include plan selections from the 12 state-based marketplaces who use their own platforms. Enrollment for those states totalled 2.8 million as of December 24, 2016.
[Also: ACA open enrollment defies 'death spiral' prediction based on premium changes]
"With almost 9 million people signed up for 2017 coverage just in HealthCare.gov states, it's clear that Marketplace coverage is a product Americans want and need," said Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell. "Strong demand is especially striking in light of the unique headwinds created by discouraging rhetoric from ACA opponents. More than 40,000 people have contacted our call center expressing concerns about whether they should sign up for coverage, with a sharp uptick in these questions last weekend. My answer is a resounding yes: in fact, I'll be signing up for Marketplace coverage myself by the end of the month..."
The Open Enrollment deadline is January 31rst.
Twitter: @BethJSanborn
