WASHINGTON — Nearly a million people signed up for health insurance under President Barack Obama’s law even after the official enrollment season ended, helping to push the share of uninsured Americans below 10 percent.
The Health and Human Services Department said on Thursday that 943,934 new customers have signed up since open enrollment ended on Feb. 22, benefiting from “special enrollment periods” keyed to life changes and other circumstances.
Sign-up opportunities for those experiencing changes such as having a baby or losing a job that came with health insurance are available year-round through HealthCare.gov and its state-run counterparts.
The steadily growing number of Americans with coverage under the 5-year-old law could make it more difficult for Republicans to repeal Obamacare even if they win the White House and keep control of Congress in next year’s elections.
Several of the GOP presidential candidates have insisted that they would scrap the law, but they would face the prospect of stripping millions of their insurance. Republican lawmakers also talk of replacing the Affordable Care Act, but the GOP has yet to rally behind an alternative.
Thursday’s numbers are the first since the Supreme Court upheld health-insurance subsidies in all 50 states, turning back a challenge from the law’s opponents that would have undermined coverage across much of the country.
A Gallup survey after the ruling found that approval of the law had risen to 47 percent, the highest level since 2012.
Earlier this week, two separate reports documented progress on increasing insurance coverage in 2015, as the health-care law’s second year of expanded coverage coincided with a steadily improving economy. However, a third study raised questions about future affordability.
Texas, a bastion of political opposition to the law, was the only state with more than 20 percent of its residents uninsured the first six months of this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment