The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that between 40,000 and 50,000uninsured Americans signed up for health care coverage in the 36 states where the federal government is running the Obamacare exchanges, offering the very first estimate of the administration’s progress in implementing the Affordable Care Act. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is expected to release official figures later this week.
That number “will include people who have paid for a health plan and those who simply picked a plan and put it in their online shopping cart,” the Washington Post notes.But the initial estimate doesn’t tell the whole story about how many people are connecting to coverage. Here is what you need to know about the enrollment figures:1. More than 500,000 have signed up for insurance overall.e Health, a consulting firm tracking sign-ups, estimates that at least 440,000 people have signed up for Medicaid and another 49,000 people enrolled in coverage in 12 states and the District of Columbia that are operating their own exchanges. Significantly, that state number don’t appear to include enrollment from California, Massachusetts, or Oregon. Thus, all told, more than 529,000 have enrolled in coverage.2. People are enrolling despite an error-ridden website. Some enrollees — particularly the younger and healthier population who does not absolutely need coverage — may be putting off enrollment given HealthCare.gov’s technical glitches or are waiting until the website is fixed to sign up. The administration reports that more visitors are now successfully getting through the enrollment process from beginning to end, but the website is still struggling to process enrollees and deliver accurate and verifiable information to health insurers. “Given all of the web site problems, I think 50,000 sounds pretty good, if this is actual private plan enrollments through the federal marketplace,” Tim Jost, a professor at William & Mary, told ThinkProgress. “I am surprised it is that high. But I hope it picks up for November and takes off for December. ”
one important thing to remember the repblicans have done nothing but try to obstruct and they have done a lot of that. they lie and mislead we know this track record 5 years in this case, so we should take anything they say which will be in opposition to ACA and more then likely untrue. like that guy a week or so ago who said only 10 people had signed up.
i am pleased to hear something positive in relation to the roll out, not even two weeks and they leaped the day after the initiated roll out with the slams forgetting the part D problems and our help though some voted against it. they are obsessed with not allowing Pres. to take his place in history as the guy that out did them.
