Technicalissues faced on the initial day of enrollment mayhave prevented as many as 100,000 people from enrolling ina health care plan. (Photo: Shutterstock)
Perhaps everyone's just too busy watching the impeachmenthearings unfold, or they're getting an early start on theirChristmas shopping. Or maybe it's the repeal of the individualmandate. Whatever the reason, signups for individual healthinsurance plans on Healthcare.gov are down 20 percent over lastyear.
|After the first two weeks of enrollment, numbers are down 240,000 from last year. Week 2 saw 754,967enrollees, for a running total of 932,049. Last year's two-weektotal was 1,176,232.
|Related: ACA enrollment: A weak week
|The first "week" only ran from November 1 through 2, compared toNovember 1 through 3 last year, but even accounting for the oneless day, that's still a significant drop. Some experts say thenumbers simply haven't recovered from the technical issues faced onthe initial day of enrollment, which may have prevented as many as100,000 people from enrolling.
|"Unfortunately, due to the limited data and the impact of lastFriday's technical issues this first week's numbers offers verylittle insight into how open enrollment is performing more broadlythis year," wrote Joshua Peck, former chief marketingofficer for HealthCare.gov.
|
Source:CMS
Still, there are some insights to glean. Despite the loss of theindividual mandate and the legal threats to the ACA, 244,928 newmembers have enrolled in an ACA health plan this year, an increaseover last year.
|"People understand the value of health insurance, and there area lot of good deals in the marketplace," Tara Straw of the Centeron Budget and Policy Priorities told CNBC.
|The ACA open enrollment period ends on December 15 for moststates. We'll be keeping an eye on the numbers and the potentialimplications.
|Read more:
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Critical BenefitsPRO information including cutting edge post-reform success strategies, access to educational webcasts and videos, resources from industry leaders, and informative Newsletters.
- Exclusive discounts on ALM, BenefitsPRO magazine and BenefitsPRO.com events
- Access to other award-winning ALM websites including ThinkAdvisor.com and Law.com
Already have an account? Sign In
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Emily Payne
Emily Payne is director, content analytics for ALM's Business & Finance Markets and former managing editor for BenefitsPRO. A Wisconsin native, she has spent the past decade writing and editing for various athletic and fitness publications. She holds an English degree and Business certificate from the University of Wisconsin.
