UPDATED FACTS ABOUT THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT (OBAMACARE)
WASHINGTON — at a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
ENROLLMENT:
7.3 million people who bought private health insurance under the Affordable Care Act had paid their premiums and were still enrolled.
This number does not include individuals that: (1) have gotten employer-sponsored insurance, (2) were eligible for Medicaid, or (3) have gone “into the ranks of the uninsured.”
More than 85 percent of people with marketplace coverage are receiving subsidies in the form of tax credits that lower their premiums.
“The vast majority of consumers who gained private insurance coverage through the marketplace are paying $100 or less per month,” Ms. Tavenner, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told the committee. “In fact, nearly half of individuals selecting plans with tax credits in the federally facilitated marketplace — specifically, 46 percent — were able to get covered for $50 per month or less.”
The number of uninsured Americans fell by about 8 percent to 41 million people in the first quarter of this year, compared with 2013, a drop that represented about 3.8 million people.
The most significant decline in the share of the uninsured was among 19- to 25-year-olds, 21 percent of whom were uninsured in the first quarter, down from 27 percent in 2013.
“Special Enrollment Periods” are available to people who marry, divorce, have a baby or were stymied by “technical errors” at HealthCare.gov.
SECURITY:
Regarding security issues: Ms. Tavenner said, “To date we have had no malicious breach, no breach of personal information.”
CONCLUSION:
“Katherine Hempstead, who directs research on health insurance coverage at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said the rise appeared to indicate that some of the newly insured — many of whom did not previously have insurance because they could not afford it or because they had pre-existing conditions — were starting to use the health care system.” – The New York Times: Sabrina Tavernise – Sept. 16, 2014
Larry Levitt, a director at the Program for the Study of Health Reform and Private Insurance at the Kaiser Family Foundation stated: “Regardless of what you think of the A.C.A., there should be no doubt at this point that the law is increasing the number of people insured.”