Why it matters: The Affordable Care Act expands its reach.
Although former President Donald J. Trump, the front-runner in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, recently warned that he was “seriously looking at alternatives” to the Affordable Care Act, the recent surge in enrollment in the market is evidence that it is here to stay power of the law.
Laws passed at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic increased federal subsidies for purchasing plans, reducing costs for many Americans. The Biden administration also extended the enrollment deadline and increased advertising for the program and funding for so-called navigators who help people sign up.
“More and more people are realizing they can get into the marketplace,” said Cynthia Cox, director of the Affordable Care Act program at KFF, a nonprofit health policy research group.
She added, “Just because the ACA has been around for a while doesn't mean the people who need to sign up for it know how to do it.”
A breathtaking statistic: 750,000 registrations in a single day.
As of Dec. 15 — the deadline to sign up for coverage begins Jan. 1 — nearly 750,000 people chose a Marketplace plan on HealthCare.gov. It was the largest single-day total ever.
Dr. Benjamin Sommers, a health economist at Harvard University who served in the Biden administration, said improved public relations helped explain the record enrollments. “I’m pleasantly surprised,” he said.
Given years of subsidy increases, he added, “this may be the natural growth rate over a few years in a new political environment.”
Kody Kinsley, North Carolina's top health official, said his state has gotten creative in using its efforts to expand Medicaid to also get people enrolled in marketplace plans.
“We conducted a very comprehensive education and outreach campaign — with civic organizations, churches and navigators — centered around the expansion to educate people about eligibility,” he said in a text message.
He added: “In this context, we help people obtain insurance in the marketplace if they are not eligible for Medicaid.”
What's next: Signups will continue for nearly a month.
The open enrollment period on Healthcare.gov runs through mid-January and ends January 17 at 5 a.m. Eastern Time. People who register by then will have insurance coverage from February.
Biden administration officials said they encouraged participants who already had insurance through HealthCare.gov to continue shopping for plans in case a new option proves to be better and more affordable.
The Affordable Care Act's marketplaces have become particularly valuable to people losing Medicaid coverage this year, following a federal directive that guaranteed coverage before the end of the pandemic in April.
The millions of people who dropped their Medicaid enrollments contributed to the market's surge in enrollment, Ms. Cox said, and a surge during typically sleepier times outside of open enrollment. (Certain life events, such as the sudden loss of other health insurance, allow some Americans to purchase new plans outside of the open enrollment period.)
According to federal health officials, enrollment in Marketplace plans increased by 1.6 million people from March to September, up 1.5 million from the same period last year.