President Donald Trump has frequently been accused of trying toundermine Obamacare, his predecessor’ssignature health law. New data show that by at least one measure hedidn’t do a particularly good job of it.

|

Enrollment in individual health-insurance plans under theAffordable Care Act fell 3.7 percent in 2018 to 11.8 million, from12.2 million a year earlier, according to data compiled by theNational Academy for State Health Policy, which calls itself anonprofit, nonpartisan association of state health-policymakers.

|

That’s a far smaller drop than some health-policy watchers hadforeseen, after the Trump administration halved the enrollment season and cut marketingand enrollment-assistance efforts. Trump himselfdeclared the law “dead.”

Obamacare shrinking market

The decline was concentrated in states where the federalgovernment runs the Obamacare markets. In those 34 states,enrollment dropped 5.3 percent.

|

In states that handle their own systems and advertising, likeNew York, Colorado and California, sign-ups were essentially flat.States that run their own markets also typically offered longersign-up periods.

|

Despite the smaller-than-expected decline, enrollment in theACA’s exchanges has fallen from a peak of about 12.7 million in2016, and the overall individual market has turned out to besmaller than estimated when the health law was passed.

|

One reason the numbers haven’t gone up may be that people arestill getting coverage through their jobs in high numbers. When thehealth law was passed, policy experts predicted that some companieswould quit offering coverage, sending workers to the Obamacaremarket.

|

Instead, companies continued offering insurance to their workersas a job benefit. A strengthening labor market may also have helpedpull some people out of the ACA’s exchanges. More than 2 millionmore people were employed in January compared to a yearearlier.

|

While premiums climbed, the overall effect on enrollment isunclear. On average, the sticker price of the cheapest plans rose17 percent, accordingto the Kaiser Family Foundation. That likely drove some people toowealthy to get subsidies away from the market. But becausesubsidies rise alongside premiums, lower income consumers wereinsulated from the price hikes.

|

Copyright 2018 Bloomberg. All rightsreserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,or redistributed.

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.

  • Critical BenefitsPRO information including cutting edge post-reform success strategies, access to educational webcasts and videos, resources from industry leaders, and informative Newsletters.
  • Exclusive discounts on ALM, BenefitsPRO magazine and BenefitsPRO.com events
  • Access to other award-winning ALM websites including ThinkAdvisor.com and Law.com
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.