Today is the Last Day – Are you signed up yet?
Posted by Michelle Moquin on March 31st, 2014
Good morning!
From Think Progress:
6 Million and Counting
Obamacare Hits Enrollment Target With Days To Spare
On Thursday, President Obama announced on a call with volunteers that the number of Americans who have enrolled in health insurance plans under Obamacare has hit six million.
With days to spare before open enrollment ends on March 31, this Monday night at midnight EST, the administration has met its target. Just eleven days ago, the Obama administration announced that enrollments had hit five million— meaning that the pace of enrollment has significantly picked up recently, and a million Americans enrolled in less than two weeks.
The success of open enrollment undermines critics who seized on the law’s troubled early rollout to predict that law could never attract enough Americans to succeed. Below are some of the worst predictions after the administration published the first enrollment figures in November of 2013:
1. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)
“Above all, this report is a symbol of the failure of the President’s health care law… It is a rolling calamity that must be scrapped. [CNN]
2. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA)
“Pretty stunning…Just another day in a series of mess-ups in Obamacare.”
3. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
4. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
“But this Administration will trudge ahead. Keep the doors open. Thousands of people enrolled instead of millions. They just released a number this week for the 36 states using the malfunctioning federal Exchange. Fewer than 27,000 people. Including people who haven’t actually committed to purchase the plans … those who have put it in their shopping cart….So the Administration will limp along with this pitiful sign up process hoping to get people properly assigned to health plans.
5. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-OH)
He called the numbers “staggeringly low.”
6. Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC)
7. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)
“The 27,000 enrollments through federally facilitated exchange pale in comparison to the millions of Americans who have lost their health insurance under ObamaCare… It is time for the president to finally acknowledge ObamaCare isn’t working and to delay the law, in fairness to families and individuals.”
8. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS)
“The numbers released today are indicative of failure. Not just the failure of a website, but a failure of the underlying law, a failure to keep promises to the American people, and, above all, a failure of leadership.”
9. Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS)
“Today, we learned only 371 Kansans have been able to successfully sign up [in October] for a health care plan on the federally run Obamacare exchange. And only a mere 106,185 total Americans have been able to sign up on both the federal and state exchanges across the country. These numbers are abysmal; the administration has not met even 25 percent of its enrollment goal for the first month.”
10. Rep. Tom Marino (R-PA)
11. Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR)
12. Rep. David Camp (R-MI)
“Even if this data was an accurate picture, the administration would need to enroll 68,000 people per day to meet their year-end goal…However, the website isn’t even designed to handle that much traffic and is currently capable of only handling less than half that much… With the little data we have so far, I fear we could see a fundamental breakdown of the insurance market with coverage gaps and skyrocketing premiums – pricing millions of Americans out of health care, yet still forced to pay the individual mandate tax.”
Still In Line? You Have More Time: Although open enrollment technically ends on Monday, there will be time to help you complete the process. On Wednesday, the administration announced that the people who have experienced technological difficulties will be allowed to complete their enrollment in April.
Haven’t Sign Up Yet? Go to healthcare.gov today to find a plan that works for you and your budget. Then – tell a friend to do the same.
*****
Readers: You’ve got one day left. Sign up.
So happy all of you enjoyed the video yesterday. The law of attraction is at work. Now that I have discovered the very inspiring and courageous Maysoon Zayid, I’ve been seeing her name everywhere! Love it, because she is definitely a girl that I want to follow.
Peace & Love.
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michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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March 31st, 2014 at 10:21 am
To be clear, a large percentage of this enrollment happened with the contribution of licensed insurance agents. When the President gives kudos to “Navigators” this mostly represents thousands of licensed insurance agents who enroll people as a full-time profession. (12,500 certified agents in CA) I encourage CMS, CCIIO and the administration to openly recognize the enrollment results would have been drastically smaller without the support of licensed agents. Please say “agents”.
Agents have been unfairly stigmatized or ignored throughout the healthcare debate and implementation of the ACA. Because agents have been the messenger of high rate increases or restrictive carrier rules, they got smeared by public and the policymakers as being “the problem”. I believe Covered California achieved the greatest success with more than 1.2 million enrolled; mostly by agents.
I am personally proud of the impact agents made here in California and hope other states and the FFM states will follow suit by embracing the licensed insurance agents if they want to achieve similar enrollment results. Agents do not add to the premium costs and did not receive federal grant monies. They get paid a small commission from the insurance carriers if they enroll. #agentsaretheanswer
March 31st, 2014 at 10:28 am
Well said Michael, I also do some work in the health insurance industry and have for years. I been signing people up in boatloads in recent days and plan to add even more in the final hours. Plenty of have them have been people who could never secure health insurance before.
March 31st, 2014 at 10:28 am
HAW, HAW, HAW, this going to set the repeal movement way back. The CBO estimate is that by September, when people are deciding how to vote, 9-10M will have signed up. Repeal THAT Boehner.
March 31st, 2014 at 11:01 am
We all need a little patience. At this point all we have is anecdotal experience, a lot of one off happenings. One thing is clear; most of the sign ups are happening in state exchanges. Residents in blue states with exchanges are doing very well. Red state residents are having serious problems – many residents of Texas think it’s illegal to sign up.
All of that’s going to shake out by November, when about 10 million will have enrolled, and following Pareto’s rule, 80% will love it. Also by that time, businesses will have figured how to deal with it, just as they did in 1976 when ERISA became law. In short, the ACA won’t be an issue in the mid terms. then what will the Republicans have to bitch about, since they put all their attack eggs in the ACA basket.
March 31st, 2014 at 11:03 am
We will see what the numbers will finally be when the delinquent payment notices come in.
March 31st, 2014 at 11:04 am
When the self-employed, who have been double-taxed on the premiums for their healthcare insurance see the tax break they will be getting for 2013, the tune on the ACA is going to change big time in favor of it.
March 31st, 2014 at 11:04 am
When the self-employed, who have been double-taxed on the premiums for their healthcare insurance see the tax break they will be getting for 2013, the tune on the ACA is going to change big time in favor of it.
March 31st, 2014 at 11:05 am
You have to love Harry Reid’s comment yesterday explaining the low ACA enrollments, especially with the young people. “Unlike his grand-kids, many people just don’t understand how to use the internet”. Didn’t Obama and Pelosi explain to old Harry that their targeted enrollment audience is the young and healthy, the one’s who live on the net 24/7.
Millions of tax payer dollars have been foolishly spent by the White House on trying to encourage this needed group to signup for a program they neither want nor need. But I guess if your a committed liberal like Harry, you just can’t admit to the truth. It’s not that they can’t figure out the internet, they just don’t want to pay for your stinking socialist program no matter how many Obama supporting celebrities tell them to sign on the dotted line.
March 31st, 2014 at 11:06 am
So they are estimating that over a million people haven’t paid, (probably more, but we’ll go with that number)– that means that they missed their original goal by over 2 million people? Couple that with them extending the deadline…….and libs are calling this a success??
March 31st, 2014 at 11:09 am
I’m 62 and never thought I would live in an America that told me what I must purchase.
March 31st, 2014 at 11:09 am
Success or failure of the ACA will be determined by what actually happens to premiums next year, not some number of sign ups. If they rise enough to drive more of the healthy out of the market then the ACA will be judged a failure. It was a law directed at only 15% of the population and it’s only managed to enroll 6 out of 40 million from that small group. On that basis alone I’d think it is a failure also.
It’s already a failure for me personally. At 63, the lowest priced Bronze plan I was offered was $558 a month, up from a plans of around $250 the previous year. Fortunately I’m healthy and will simply remain uninsured.
March 31st, 2014 at 11:13 am
Philip#5: That will take a lot of time, and most people are smart enough to know that if they don’t pay their premiums, they will lose their insurance. Don’t you pay your car insurance premiums when they’re due, or your household premiums?
March 31st, 2014 at 11:14 am
Philip#5, You’re really reaching. But then again…you’re almost out of ammo.
Who in the h@@L would go to all the trouble of enrolling and then not pay the paltry sum for insurance?
I tried to pay for 3 months in advance,but they only wanted the first payment to begin with.
March 31st, 2014 at 11:15 am
MY PREMIUM HAS DOUBLED YOUR WELCOME ALL YOU DEADBEATS OUT THER
March 31st, 2014 at 11:18 am
Carl#8, Keep up with the news. Young enrollment numbers have jumped dramatically. Most young people are smart enough to know that even if they’re healthy right now, medical expenses could bankrupt them.
March 31st, 2014 at 11:19 am
Ted#14, Well, that was almost a sentence.
March 31st, 2014 at 11:20 am
Ted#14, So what. You’re only one out of 6 million enrollees. One data point does not a trend make.
March 31st, 2014 at 11:22 am
Carl#8, : Keep up with the news. Young enrollment numbers have jumped dramatically. Most young people are smart enough to know that even if they’re healthy right now, medical expenses could bankrupt them.
March 31st, 2014 at 11:25 am
Monk#9, Who’s estimating? Fox? Rush? Glenn Beck?
March 31st, 2014 at 11:26 am
“The administration has yet to announce how many consumers actually closed the deal by paying their first month’s premium”
You mean actually enrolled!!!
March 31st, 2014 at 11:27 am
Monk#20, Yes because it’s impossible for the DHHS to know until the insurance companies tell them.