Obamacare sign ups remained strong in 2018, but next year is uncertain

Originally Published by CNN.

Obamacare remained popular with millions of Americans in 2018, despite the Trump administration’s repeated attacks.

Nearly 11.8 million people selected coverage for this year on the federal and state-based exchanges during a shortened open enrollment period, according to official data released Tuesday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. That’s down only 3.8%, much less than some advocates of the health reform law initially feared.

Some 8.7 million people signed up on the federal exchange, while 3 million picked plans in the 11 states and the District of Columbia, which run their own marketplaces. Some 27% of consumers were new to Obamacare, a somewhat lower share than last year. Another 24% were automatically re-enrolled, while 47% were returning customers who picked new plans, slightly higher than last year.

“The administration’s final open enrollment report proves, once again, how important the ACA marketplaces are for providing people with affordable, quality health care,” said Josh Peck, co-founder of Get America Covered, an advocacy group. “While enrollment remained steady because of high consumer satisfaction and more affordable premiums for those who qualify for tax credits, enrollment would have outpaced previous years if the administration had focused on signing people up instead of on derailing open enrollment efforts.”

Meanwhile, CMS Administrator Seema Verma said the open enrollment period was the “most cost-effective and successful” to date.

Read the full story at: http://money.cnn.com/2018/04/03/news/economy/obamacare-enrollment-2018/i…