Thompson Condemns Attempts to Limit Healthcare Enrollment before Deadline
Washington – Today, the White House announced it was ending outreach on enrolling in health insurance through HealthCare.gov. Open enrollment lasts through January 31st, and has traditionally been a time when interest in coverage surges. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) released the following statement:
"It is irresponsible to try to keep Americans in the dark about enrolling in health insurance. Regardless of whether the President wants to repeal the ACA, it remains in place. Americans have a right to know when open enrollment ends and how they can get coverage before the deadline. To pull the plug on outreach we have already paid for is both a waste of money and a callous disregard for men, women, and families in need of healthcare."
In the three years since the marketplaces launched, the final day of enrollment has been the second-biggest day of enrollment—topped only by December 31st, the deadline for people seeking coverage effective January 1st. The last week of January traditionally draws younger enrollees, who often wait until the last minute to sign up.
For this reason, HHS had planned a major advertising campaign specifically aimed at younger adults—which is now being halted. A drop in younger enrollees could result in the risk pools in the Marketplaces being less healthy, driving up future premiums.
As of December 24th, more than 11.5 million people nationwide had signed up for 2017 federal marketplace plans, an increase from 2016.
In California, outreach and marketing is coordinated through Covered California, and will continue as planned. Since enrollment opened in November, 1.3 million people have renewed coverage in California, and over 300,000 have signed up for the very first time. Residents can still sign up for health insurance at https://www.coveredca.com/.
###