CMS: Federal Exchange Enrollment Reached 8.5M as of Dec. 26, 2015
Last week, the Obama administration announced that about 8.5 million U.S. residents have signed up for health plans through the federal exchange, The Hill reports (Sullivan, The Hill, 12/30/15).
The enrollment figure accounts for signups through Dec. 26, 2015 (CMS fact sheet, 12/30/15).
Background
The Affordable Care Act's third open enrollment period launched Nov. 1, 2015 (California Healthline, 12/23/15). It ends Jan. 31 (The Hill, 12/30/15).
The Obama administration has estimated that about 10 million U.S. residents will be enrolled in health coverage purchased through the ACA's exchanges by the end of 2016 (California Healthline, 12/23/15).
Enrollment Details
Federal exchange signups increased from about 8.3 million as of Dec. 19, 2015, to about 8.5 million as of Dec. 26, 2015 (The Hill, 12/30/15).
According to CMS, about 27% of the 274,659 enrollees in week eight of the open enrollment period signed up for federal exchange coverage for the first time. In comparison, 29% of the 8.5 million consumers during the entire enrollment period so far have been new, while 71% have renewed coverage (CMS fact sheet, 12/30/15).
According to the administration, about 60% of existing customers actively renewed their coverage, as opposed to being automatically re-enrolled (The Hill, 12/30/15). Of the six million consumers who renewed coverage:
- 3.6 million did so actively; and
- 2.4 million had their coverage automatically renewed (CMS fact sheet, 12/30/15).
HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said, "As 2015 comes to an end, I am encouraged to see marketplace consumers showing how engaged they are with their health coverage," noting, "Millions of consumers that had 2015 coverage -- an impressive 60% -- came back to HealthCare.gov to update their information, explore the options available for 2016 and select the plan that best fits their needs" (The Hill, 12/30/15).
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