Nearly 20 Percent Fewer New People Have Signed Up For Health Law Plans Than At This Time Last Year
Though there has been a surge in sign-ups over the past week as the Dec. 15 deadline closes in, overall, enrollment is down 12 percent compared to 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. (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)
In other health law news —
The Hill:
Dems Aim To Punt Vote On ObamaCare Taxes
Health-care companies are making a last-minute push to delay ObamaCare taxes as part of a year-end government funding deal, but they face resistance from Democrats who want to punt the issue until next year when they control the House. Powerful health-care lobbies are pushing lawmakers to delay the implementation of the taxes, worried about taking a financial hit. Lawmakers have voted to push off the health law’s medical device tax, health insurance tax, and tax on high-cost “Cadillac” health plans in the past with bipartisan support. (Sullivan, 12/13)