"Obamacare enrollment is lagging far behind what economists had projected, the Congressional Budget Office said in a new report that cuts the total number of customers expected to buy plans on the exchanges from 21 million down to just 13 million this year.
Of those, 11 million will be getting government subsidies — down from the 15 million the CBO had projected just a year ago.
The updated projections came as part of the CBO’s 2016 budget outlook, and confirm the administration’s own dim estimates of how many people would take advantage of the health exchanges, which are at the heart of President Obama’s health law." - Obamacare enrollment projections down nearly 40 percent,
washingtontimes.com, 01/25/2015
Link to the entire article appears below:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jan/25/obamacare-enrollment-projections-down-43-percent/
“WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is giving a reprieve to up to 6 million Americans who face fines for failing to sign up for health insurance this year, opening up enrollment again during the critical tax filing season.
At the same time, it’s admitting another colossal blunder: 800,000 ObamaCare enrollees were sent the wrong tax information and have been asked to delay filing their returns until they can get the corrected data.”
“Under the revised deadline, enrollment for 2015 opens again from March 15 through April 30 for those who face tax penalties, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.”
“The administration also announced Friday that it mistakenly sent out the wrong tax information to 800,000 customers on the HealthCare.gov website. It’s now asking those people to delay filing their returns until they can get the correct data.”
“California made a similar announcement affecting 100,000 people in the state-run exchange — bringing the total close to 1 million. Another 50,000 may have to resubmit returns already filed.” - Nearly 6M uninsured to get reprieve from ObamaCare fines, New York Post, 02/20/2015
Link to the entire article appears below:
http://nypost.com/2015/02/20/nearly-6-million-uninsured-get-reprieve-from-obamacare-fines/
“WASHINGTON—Millions fewer people will enroll in private health plans under the Affordable Care Act next year than the Congressional Budget Office had predicted, the Obama administration said Monday.
The developments are the latest sign that the law, which Democrats passed in 2010 to provide near-universal health insurance, is struggling to reach that goal quickly. Attracting new enrollees to the health law’s insurance exchanges has proven more difficult than advocates had predicted, and a slice of those who do sign up for plans haven’t kept up with premiums.
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said the administration was aiming for 9.1 million paid-up enrollees by the end of 2015, though the range could extend to 9.9 million, according to a new analysis conducted by her agency.
The exchanges, which reopen Saturday for the law’s second year of insurance enrollment, were expected to have 13 million people enrolled in private health plans under the law in 2015, according to an April 2014 projection by the nonpartisan CBO.
Around 7.1 million Americans currently have private coverage through the law’s exchanges, the administration said Monday. That is down from the 8 million the administration said had picked plans as of this spring, and from a figure of 7.3 million paid-up enrollees in mid-August.”
“Mike Perry, a pollster who conducts research for supporters of the law, said recent focus groups with people who were uninsured after the first year of sign-ups made clear they were a “harder group to reach” now. “They know their budget, and their budget has no room,” he said.”
“HHS officials also released new figures on their efforts to clear up data problems from the first sign-up period. They said they had cut off tax credits for December for 120,000 households that hadn’t responded to requests for more information about their income.
Another 112,000 people have had their coverage terminated because the federal government couldn’t confirm they were legally residing in the U.S., they said. That number is down slightly from an earlier announcement that the government was cutting off 116,000 people over immigration and citizenship status issues.” - Health-Law Enrollment in 2015 Won’t Meet Forecast, WSJ, 11/11/2014
Link to the entire article appears below:
http://online.wsj.com/articles/health-law-enrollment-in-2015-wont-meet-forecast-1415666606?KEYWORDS=health+law
Assume for a moment you are one of the many millions that have already procured an on-exchange health insurance policy through Healthcare.gov. Yes, assume for a moment you were one of the persistent people that had the patience to pass through seventy six web-based pages of data collection on a highly glitch prone web site and acquired a health insurance policy. One would assume you weathered the storm, made a gallant effort and now there is nothing but blue skies ahead. Congratulations are in order, right? Maybe not so much. How so?
Now it’s renewal time and the yellow brick road forks. Here are several items one will encounter at the fork in the road known as open enrollment renewal:
(a) as one approaches open enrollment renewal, the directional sign is blank at the fork in the road . One will not be able to know plan prices or plan availability until 11/15/2014 which is the first day of open enrollment (and a politically convenient date falling after the mid-term elections), (1)
(b) one’s current plan selected on-exchange at Healthcare.gov, for a multitude of reasons, may no longer be available. Yes, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars and merely start all over again by searching for a plan, (2)
(c) your plan may still be available but the price has risen in a substantial manner. If the price rise is extreme, merely start all over again by searching for a plan, (3)
(d) if one was/is receiving a subsidy then income must be projected again in regards to subsidy eligibility. One must further consider the change in price of the second lowest silver plan price now available upon the exchange, which is a determinant of subsidy, and then considerer the new price of the second lowest silver plan in relation to the plan one considers selecting, (4)
(e) one might do nothing. Huh? That’s right, if you already have an on-exchange health insurance policy through Healthcare.gov, and if the plan is continued, and you do nothing you are automatically re-enrolled. Sweet! An easy way out! Nada. The plan may continue and yes one is re-enrolled, but the price has likely changed upward. If one is receiving a subsidy and since one did nothing, one’s income was not re-projected and the new price of the second lowest silver plan in relation to the new price of the old plan you selected (automatically re-enrolled) still holds as a determinant, so your subsidy likely remains the same while your plan’s price rises substantially and one ends this zero effort exercise with a nasty premium increase, (5)
(f) meanwhile the process outlined above needs initiated between 11/15/2014 and 12/15/2014. Renewal open enrollment is a thirty day window and is not the same as the open enrollment period for new comers which is 11/15/2014 to 02/15/2015. (6)
Happy holidays! One might consider that holiday shopping after 12/15/2014 and don’t be late for Thanksgiving dinner!
Notes:
(1) Next edition of HealthCare.gov is unveiled, foxnews.com, 10/08/2014
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/10/08/next-edition-healthcaregov-is-unveiled/
(2) ACA/Obamacare: Why Your Old Plan Got Cancelled and Why Your New Plan Is Likely to be Cancelled Too.
http://thelastembassy.blogspot.com/2014/10/acaobamacare-why-your-old-plan-got.html
(3) (4) How Automatic Renewal Could Cost Obamacare Enrollees, WJS, 07/02/2014
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/07/02/how-automatic-renewal-could-cost-obamacare-enrollees/
(5) (6) Next edition of HealthCare.gov is unveiled, foxnews.com, 10/08/2014
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/10/08/next-edition-healthcaregov-is-unveiled/
