Biden's last effort to boost ACA enrollment

Source: Axios

5 hours ago


President Biden is making a final push to build on the Affordable Care Act, extending the enrollment period for marketplace coverage that kicks in Jan. 1 as sign-ups lag.

Why it matters: ACA enrollment has hit new record highs each year of the Biden administration. But those gains are on shaky ground as the Trump administration prepares to take over in January.

"It's clearly something that the president sees as one of his major accomplishments of his administration," said Sabrina Corlette, co-director of Georgetown University's Center on Health Insurance Reforms.
"

I think we'll continue to see until the very last minute that they're going to be beating the drum to encourage people to get the coverage that they're eligible for."

Where it stands: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said on Monday that consumers can get health coverage for all of 2025 on the federal marketplace through Dec. 18, extending the deadline from Sunday. Enrollment customarily surges in the last few days of the sign-up period.

Enrollment for coverage that begins in February will continue through Jan. 15. Current marketplace enrollees who don't change their coverage will be re-enrolled in the same plan, or the most similar one still on the market.

Biden has prioritized growing marketplace enrollment since he hit the presidential campaign trail in 2019.

21.3 million people selected an ACA plan for 2024, either through the federal HealthCare.gov site or a state-based marketplace. That beat the previous enrollment record, set the year before, by nearly 5 million, according to Health and Human Services.

Consumers, on average, will have more choice of insurers for their 2025 coverage, according to KFF. Nearly all HealthCare.gov enrollees will have three or more insurers to choose from for ACA coverage, up from 78% of enrollees with at least three insurer options in 2021.

Read more: https://www.axios.com/2024/12/17/bidens-affordable-care-act-enrollment