Obamacare Second Open Enrollment Deadline Update: 9.5 Million People Enrolled on Federal, State-Based Insurance Platforms
With less than three weeks before the second open enrollment period of the Health Insurance Marketplace concludes, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revealed 2.5 million enrollees are mostly millennials.
Overall, the HHS noted 9.5 million Americans, across the country, have selected or were automatically enrolled into "quality, affordable" health coverage during the second open enrollment period, up to Jan. 16. Of the 9.5 million enrollees, over 7.1 million consumers are from the 37 states using the federal HealthCare.gov health insurance enrollment platform. The 14 states and Washington, D.C., which utilizes a state-based enrollment platform, have accumulated 2.4 million plan selections.
"We're pleased that, nationwide, 9.5 million people are signed up for Marketplace coverage. The vast majority are able to lower their costs even further by getting tax credits, making a difference in the lives of so many families," HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell said. The HHS noted 87 percent of the plan selections have financial assistance.
"The deadline to sign up for coverage is just a few weeks away. We are encouraging consumers to visit HealthCare.gov, call the call center or get in touch with a local assister to check out their options for quality, affordable coverage. We still have a lot of work to do before Feb. 15, but are encouraged by the strong interest we've seen so far," added Burwell.
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Based on the HHS data, 2.5 million of those on the HealthCare.gov enrollment platform are individuals below 35 years old, or 35 percent of the 7.16 million of the overall enrollment from the federal health insurance marketplace. From the overall enrollees, 42 percent are first-time enrollees, which also equates to 3 million people. HHS said 58 percent, or 4.16 million consumers, were reenrolled to their health insurance plan.
California and Florida were revealed to have the highest plan selections, to date, with 1.2 million and approximately 1.3 million, respectively. As Latin Post reported, the HHS had identified California and Florida as among the top five states to have the largest population of uninsured Latinos. In a report in early February 2014, the HHS' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) disclosed 2.8 million California Latinos were uninsured while 1.1 million uninsured Latinos resided in Florida. The other five states with large populations of uninsured Latinos are Texas with 2.5 million, New York with 0.5 million and Arizona with 0.4 million.
Based on Gallup polling data, the fourth quarter of 2014 saw an average of 12.9 percent of American adults uninsured. Since the ACA went in effect in 2013, the uninsured rate fell by 4.2 percent, specifically from 17.1 percent during the fourth quarter of 2013.
The second open enrollment period started on Nov. 15 and concludes on Feb. 15.
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