Following the glitch-ridden rollout of HealthCare.gov, the White House has faced concerns about lower-than-expected enrollment in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act exchanges.
In particular, policymakers have questioned whether enough young and healthy Americans will enroll to offset the higher claims costs of older, sicker enrollees. As of Dec. 28, just 24 percent of those who had signed up for health plans through the exchanges were between the ages of 18 and 34.
The latest health insurance marketplace enrollment report from HHS shows the number of people who signed up for health plans through the exchanges rose significantly in January, and young adults are outpacing all other age groups, although they still represent a relatively small portion of the overall enrollee population. From the latest HHS report, here are five key statistics on exchange enrollment.
1. Nearly 3.3 million people had enrolled in health insurance exchange plans from Oct. 1, 2013 to Feb. 1.
2. Of those who had signed up through Feb. 1, 1.4 million enrolled through the state-based marketplaces.
3. The federally facilitated marketplace accounted for 1.9 million of the 3.3 million PPACA enrollees as of Feb. 1.
4. There was a 53 percent increase in enrollment last month compared with the prior three-month reporting period, with January alone accounting for 1.1 million health plan selections.
5. In the fourth month of open enrollment, the portion of people who signed up for exchange plans who are between the ages of 18 and 34 rose to 27 percent.
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White House Dismisses Concerns About Lack of Young, Healthy PPACA Enrollees