The Obama administration said Monday it takes the recent failure of Obamacare startups “quite seriously,” but insisted most consumers still have plenty of good insurance options to choose from.
More than half of the taxpayer-funded insurance plans started under the Affordable Care Act to spur competition have shuttered, putting the administration on the defense as it undertakes the healthcare law’s third enrollment season. Of the 23 consumer-operated and oriented plans, or “co-ops,” just 11 remain.
Kristie Canegallo, the White House’s deputy chief of staff for Affordable Care Act implementation, told reporters to think about “first principles” of the law, including its overarching goals of providing multiple options for Americans shopping for coverage.
“If you think about those first principles, if you look across the marketplace, you’ll find that notwithstanding these co-op closures, on average consumers have five or so issuers they can choose from,” Canegallo said.
“While that in no way diminishes the seriousness of the co-op issue, we are encouraging consumers to come back to the marketplace because in many cases there will still be good options for them,” she added.
Premiums for the 2016 enrollment season have presented the administration with a harder public relations challenge than in years past, as they’re rising on average more than last year. Officials have responded by noting that the vast majority of people eligible to buy plans in the marketplaces can collect federal subsidies to make them more affordable. Canegallo also pointed out that before Congress passed the 2010 healthcare law, premiums were rising much faster than inflation, often by double digits every year.
The White House also announced Monday that it has has picked 20 communities to compete for the most Obamacare enrollees during the current signup season. The communities were selected based on having a high rate of uninsured residents who are eligible to buy coverage through the online marketplaces and have a diverse population, Canegallo said.
Communities include Tampa, Fla., and Dallas. Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said he’s excited to compete with mayors of other communities. “We are engaged in this throwdown with our fellow mayors,” he said. “We’re gonna be working to get more than we had before.”
