- Nearly 11.7 million Americans chose a health plan or were re-enrolled in coverage through the nation’s health insurance marketplaces during the 2015 marketplace enrollment period, the Obama administration reported Tuesday.
Officials expect that number to dwindle to 9.1 million throughout the year as people drop coverage for a variety of reasons, including nonpayment of premiums, relocation and changes in employment and marital status.
The Congressional Budget Office had originally projected marketplace enrollment would reach 13 million in 2015.
Most people, 8.84 million, or 76 percent of the 2015 enrollees, obtained coverage through the federal marketplace at Healthcare.gov.
The remaining 2.85 million purchased coverage through the 13 states and Washington, DC, which operate their own insurance marketplaces.
Nearly 7.7 million HealthCare.gov plan enrollees – about 87 percent - qualified for an average federal tax credit of $263 per month to help pay for coverage. Fifty-five percent paid $100 or less for coverage after the subsidy was applied.
The U.S. Supreme Court will decide in the coming months whether consumers in the 34 HealthCare.gov states can continue to receive the tax credits. Plaintiffs in the King v. Burwell case argue that the subsidies can only go to consumers in states that operate their own marketplaces.
“The figures released today tell a story of health coverage consumers rely on for financial and health security – and of coverage they don’t want to lose,” said HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell.
More than 4.1 million consumers under age 35 signed up for coverage in 2015. That’s about 35 percent of all plan selections.
Fifty-three percent who selected plans in HealthCare.gov states - more than 4.6 million people - were new consumers who didn’t have marketplace coverage last year.
Forty-seven percent, or roughly 4.2 million people, re-enrolled into coverage on HealthCare.gov. Among the re-enrollees, 1.2 million switched to a different plan in 2015.
While marketplace open enrollment ended on Feb. 15, consumers should visit HealthCare.gov to see if they qualify for a special extended enrollment period due to a life change like a loss of coverage, marriage or the birth of a child.
Extended marketplace enrollment for 2015 is also available beginning March 15 to people in HealthCare.gov states who face a tax penalty for not having health coverage in 2014. To find out more, go to HealthCare.gov.
The new report on marketplace enrollment is available at http://1.usa.gov/1E3qhyb