The Obama administration announced Monday that 115,000 people are scheduled to lose their Obamacare coverage at the end of the month because officials could not verify their citizenship or immigration status.
“To date, 115,000 individuals with citizenship and immigration data matching issues have not responded to our numerous contacts and will be receiving notices saying their last day of federal marketplace coverage is Sept 30. Those who submit information that confirms their eligibility after the deadline may be eligible for a special enrollment period to enroll in coverage,” said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“If they have not sent us their documentation, we ask them to do so,” added CMS Principal Deputy Administrator Andy Slavitt in a briefing with reporters. “If people are willing to pay their premiums, and they’re eligible for coverage, they’ll continue to get coverage.”
In late May, the Obama administration reported issues verifying citizenship or immigration data for nearly 1 million people. Senior administration officials said that 88 percent of those cases are now “closed or in progress.”
The Obama administration did not provide additional data on the number of people who had failed to pay their premiums.
The announcement Monday came as the administration attempts to prepare for the second year of open enrollment in Obamacare and tries to re-enroll consumers in the federal health exchanges.
Analysts have raised concerns that the second round of Obamacare could mirror the rocky rollout of the president’s signature domestic initiative.
With just two weeks to correct immigration discrepancies, the administration is calling for those with questionable documents to update their information as soon as possible.
“It’s critically important that consumers who still owe income-related documents to the marketplace send them in by Sept. 30 so we can continue to hold down their costs,” said CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner. “We are pleased that the number of individuals who were at risk of losing their marketplace coverage, or seeing changes in their costs because of data matching issues has been dramatically reduced in the last three months.”
Some immigration advocates have complained of technical issues, saying such glitches are keeping individuals from verifying their eligibility for coverage.
However, other critics say the figures prove the administration inflated the total number of people enrolling in Obamacare.
CMS also highlighted 363,000 individuals with income-data matching issues, saying those people may see the costs of their health plans change after Sept. 30 if they can’t verify their information.
