The annual open-enrollment season for the federal health insurance exchange (HealthCare.gov) ended on December 15. Some state exchanges are still open for enrollment, however – those in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, and Washington, DC.
Although final numbers are not yet in, the number of enrollments in the federal exchange this year is likely to be lower than in previous years. This could be due to the repeal of the penalty for not having insurance (“individual mandate”), because more people have employment-based insurance, because more people allowed their current plans to be automatically extended without visiting HealthCare.gov, or because some people purchased the non-ACA-compliant plans that can now be sold pursuant to recent regulatory changes. See State Insurance Department Consumer Alerts on Short-Term Plans Come Up Short (blog of the Georgetown Center on Health Insurance Reforms, 12/17/18). In addition, some people may have been discouraged from enrolling at the last minute due to the December 14 court ruling that the ACA is unconstitutional. (See “The Courts” section above.) See Obamacare Signup Period Ends Amid New Uncertainty (The Hill, 12/17/18).
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