Open enrollment on the ACA exchanges begins Nov. 1 amid cuts to insurer subsidies and advertising funds, according to The Hill.
Here are five things to know.
1. Several factors are expected to influence this year's enrollment session. The enrollment period will be cut in half; funding for advertising and enrollment navigators was slashed; President Donald Trump signed an executive order loosening ACA requirements; and the Trump administration cut cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers, which help offset the cost of offering coverage to lower-income Americans.
2. Unlike under former President Barack Obama, the Trump administration will not release an enrollment goal for 2018 coverage, according to the report. S&P Global Ratings estimates enrollment on the 2018 ACA exchanges will be between 7 percent and 13 percent lower than last year. Analyst Charles Gaba predicts enrollment could drop to between 9.5 million and 10 million Americans this year. This is compared to 12.2 million in 2016.
3. Premiums for the most popular plans sold on HealthCare.gov will grow an average 34 percent for 2018 compared to last year, according to an Avalere analysis of federal exchange filings. Avalere added most exchange enrollees have subsidized plans and will not see the increases.
4. A recent Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index poll found America's uninsured rate climbed ahead of open enrollment this year. The country's uninsured rate rested at 12.3 percent in the third quarter of this year, its highest percentage since 2014.
5. Kristine Grow, a spokesperson for America's Health Insurance Plans — the health insurance industry's largest trade group — told The Washington Post last week payers are "focused on open enrollment and how do we ensure in this environment, where we've had so much uncertainty, that consumers know where to get their plans. That's kind of job No.1 as we're standing here today."
Editor's note: This article was updated Nov. 1 at 9:22 a.m.
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