Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Nearly 20 Percent Fewer New People Have Signed Up For Health Law Plans Than At This Time Last Year
The Associated Press: Health Law Sign-Ups Lagging As Saturday Deadline Is Looming
With just days left to enroll, fewer people are signing up for the Affordable Care Act , even though premiums are stable, more plans are available and millions of uninsured people can still get financial help. Barring an enrollment surge, the nation's uninsured rate could edge up again after a yearslong coverage expansion that has seen about 20 million people obtain health insurance. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 12/12)
The Hill: ObamaCare Sign-Ups Surge In Final Weeks But Lag Last Year's Numbers
More people are signing up for ObamaCare plans as the open enrollment period comes to a close, but the overall numbers are down compared to last year. From Dec. 2 to 8, the sixth week of open enrollment, 934,269 people signed up for coverage via healthcare.gov, the most in any one-week period this year. That compares with the 1,073,921 sign-ups from the same period in 2017. (Hellmann, 12/12)
Tampa Bay Times: Florida On Track, Again, To Lead The Nation In Obamacare Sign-Ups
Florida is on track to enroll more than a million people for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act this year, putting the state on track to again outpace the rest of the nation. The state continues to lead the country with just over 999,000 people enrolled already, a number that advocates say will continue to climb through Saturday’s deadline for signing up. (Griffin, 12/13)
The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Health Exchange To Allow Consumers To Finish Enrollments After Dec. 15 Deadline
The Maryland health exchange is responding to a last-minute spike in enrollment in the final week of this year’s sign-up period by allowing people who are “in line” to complete their enrollment after the Dec. 15 deadline. The state has made the same move in years past to accommodate the last-minute rush, and the federal exchange has a similar plan this year. The plans are for policies that begin Jan. 1. (Cohn, 12/12)
Pioneer Press: Time Running Out To Sign Up For MNsure 2019 Coverage
Minnesotans who buy health plans on MNsure, the state’s individual insurance market, have until midnight Saturday to sign up for coverage that starts Jan.1. Nate Clark, CEO of MNsure, says with nearly 106,000 signups as of Wednesday morning enrollments are “tracking well ahead of last year.” MNsure will have extended hours Thursday through Saturday to handle the annual rush to get covered before the deadline. (Magan, 12/12)
North Carolina Health News: In The Final Week Of Enrollment, Obamacare Marketplace Offers Many Avenues To Getting Insurance
If you thought you an Obamacare plan might cost you too much, think again. In fact, you could pay nothing. As this year’s enrollment period for insurance through the Affordable Care Act draws to a close, advocates are making the point that some plans could actually cost nothing, after tax credits. (Duong and Hoban, 12/12)
Georgia Health News: Georgia Sees Last-Minute Enrollment Surge, But Trails Last Year’s Total
Just a few days are left before the deadline for sign-ups in the 2019 health insurance exchange.Yet as of Dec. 8, the number of Georgians who had enrolled in the health insurance exchange was less than half of last year’s total sign-up figure, federal health officials report. (Miller, 12/12)
St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri Health Insurance Enrollment Drops As Deadline Looms
According to the most recent data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 101,274 people in Missouri enrolled in a 2019 plan after the sixth week of the enrollment period, which began Nov. 1. That’s down 25 percent from the same period last year. Nationwide, enrollment is down 11 percent over the same period last year. (Fentem, 12/12)
KQED: The Obamacare Mandate Is Ending. If California Does Nothing, 1 Million Could Lose Health Care
Obamacare has led to a record number of Californians having medical coverage. But a new study warns that if the state does nothing to counteract the Trump administration’s moves to undermine Obamacare, up to 1 million more Californians could be without health insurance within the next five years. (Aguilera, 12/12)
