The Obama administration said Wednesday that Obamacare enrollment is hitting record highs even with the law’s repeal on the horizon.
Around 6.4 million consumers have selected plans on healthcare.gov in time for their coverage to start Jan. 1, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday. That’s 400,000 more enrollees compared to last year at this time, although a higher percentage than last year are returning customers.
HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell, who will depart from her role when President-elect Trump takes over next month, said her team is doing everything it can to prepare the career staff to continue open enrollment, which is scheduled to continue through the end of January.
“We have done everything we can to make sure the career staff are ready to carry out and fulfill what it takes to do the open enrollment,” Burwell told reporters. “We’ll work with the incoming administration to do anything we can to prepare them for that role they would have.”
But that role is in question, as Republicans are expected move forward on their vows to repeal the Affordable Care Act soon after Trump takes office. It’s unclear whether or how long subsidized coverage might be available via healthcare.gov, as Congress is likely to advance a repeal bill that would ditch the law’s subsidies for low and mid-income Americans.
Burwell said she has called Rep. Tom Price, the Georgia Republican tapped by Trump to lead HHS, to express her congratulations and offer help with the transition.
Price is a strong backer of repealing the healthcare law, an effort that would unravel years of work by HHS staffers. Yet both Burwell and Andy Slavitt, acting administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, expressed confidence that enrollment will continue even after they leave the agency.
“Andy and I are confident,” Burwell said. “We’re upbeat and we’re excited to enroll many more Americans in 2017.”
Slavitt said 36 percent more enrollees than last year are using the mobile website for healthcare.gov, after efforts by the administration to improve the experience for people who wanted to sign up using their mobile devices.
Even with enrollment numbers that are bigger than last year, numbers indicate the administration could still be struggling to attract new enrollees. Of the 6.4 million signups, 4.31 million were returning customers while just 2.05 million were new enrollees.
Burwell pointed to two factors for why a higher percentage of enrollees are returning customers compared to last year. The base of potential new customers grows smaller every year, as the number of uninsured drops, and there’s typically a spike in new enrollees during the last part of the enrollment season, she said.
There are additional enrollees beyond the 6.4 million the administration reported Wednesday — people whose 2016 plans were automatically enrolled and people who signed up for coverage through state-based marketplaces. The administration has set a goal of 13.8 million enrollees by the end of the signup period.
