Donald Trump’s presidential victory won’t affect the 2017 open enrollment period for Obamacare, according to groups urging people to continue to sign up despite a murky future for the law.
Trump repeatedly called on repealing Obamacare on the campaign trail, and Republicans have found a way to gut major parts of the law through a procedural move that ensures that only a Senate majority is needed to get it passed.
Despite an uncertain future for the law’s exchanges, a group encouraging open enrollment is still calling on people to sign up. Open enrollment started Nov. 1 and goes through Jan. 31, a few weeks after Trump takes office.
“As of now, nothing about the Affordable Care Act marketplace has changed, and consumers who enroll and pay their first premiums by Dec. 15 will have coverage starting Jan. 1,” said Anne Filipic, president of Enroll America, an independent group that pushes Obamacare enrollment.
The Obama administration has set a goal to sign up 13.8 million people through the last open enrollment of Obama’s presidency. It expects about 11 million of those people to pay for their plans.
An Obamacare insurer said plans likely would remain in effect for the 2017 coverage year.
“The Republicans will want to craft something to replace the [Affordable Care Act with] and I think the earliest they can expect a lot of these things to be implemented is January 2018,” said J. Mario Molina, the CEO of Molina Healthcare, an Obamacare insurer.
Molina said insurers and brokers offering Obamacare plans will have to reassure people that their coverage will carry over in 2017.
He added that next year is “going to be status quo. The train left the station several months ago. The real question is what is going to happen in 2018.”
The Obama administration did not return a request for comment.
