As the federal government gears up for the second round of open enrollment in the health care program known as Obamacare, the nation’s leading health agency on Monday revised downward the number of people who enrolled in insurance exchanges.
As of October 2014, 7.1 million people were enrolled in the marketplace and paying for coverage, less than the 13 million the Congressional Budget Office had predicted by 2015 and about 900,000 less than initial enrollment reports released in the first quarter of the year.
Enrollment estimates for 2015 are now between 9 and 9.5 million enrollees, according to the brief released ย by the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
The less-than-anticipated enrollment was attributed to a number of factors. The brief notes that there hasn’t been the shift from employer sponsored insurance or from the individual market to the insurance exchange, as initially anticipated. HHS’ new analysis implies that “most of the new marketplace enrollment for 2015 is likely to come from the rank of the uninsured,” with approximately three or four previously uninsured new enrollees for every one new enrollee that previously had coverage.
The revised estimates follow news last week that the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear a lawsuit that addresses whether the insurance subsidies available through the federal exchange are legal.
Despite the lower enrollment, the memo notes that the federal health law “is achieving its central aim: millions of Americans who were uninsured now have access to affordable, high-quality health care. The number of uninsured people in the U.S. has decreased by nearly 26 percent over the past year,” the memo reads.
Florida did not establish a state- run exchange. Initial reports showed that 983,775 Floridians had enrolled in the federal exchange by the end of the first quarter.
The 2015 open enrollment for a qualified health plan under the federal law begins Saturday, November 15. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services made available a tool for consumers who chose to shop plans on the insurance exchanges before they commit to purchasing one.
