With the cheers and celebration surrounding Obamacare’s 8 million enrollees quieted down, a new report is suggesting that only two-thirds of those selecting plans under the law have actually paid for them, completing the enrollment process.
According to data obtained by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, only 67 percent of those selecting plans by April 15 had actually paid for their first month’s premium.
Without payment, consumers will find themselves without coverage.
Just two days after the law’s open enrollment period ended, President Barack Obama boasted that 8 million Americans had signed up for health insurance under the law. But data provided to the House panel by insurance companies showed that a mere 5.3 million completed the enrollment process.
“Tired of receiving incomplete pictures of enrollment in the health care law, we went right to the source and found that the administration’s recent declarations of success may be unfounded,” Energy and Commerce Chair Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said in a statement. “We need a complete picture of how this law is working.”
Of those who paid their first month’s premiums, only 25 percent, or 1.3 million, were between the ages of 18 and 34. The administration projected 2.7 million Millennials — 40 percent of total enrollment — would need to sign up for Obamacare in order to keep the cost of premiums down for all in the insurance pool.
The GOP-led committee collected data from insurance companies providing plans under the federal exchange, which services 36 states.
Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Erin Shields Britt told reporters the committee’s findings “did not match up with public comments from insurance companies themselves, most of which indicate that 80 percent to 90 percent of enrollees have paid their premiums.”
Additionally, she noted that payment data was from April 15, as many enrolled in the law in the final weeks of the open enrollment period.
“Additionally, given the significant surge in enrollments at the end of March, it stands to reason that not all enrollees would have paid by the date of this so-called report, since many people’s bills were not even due yet,” Shields Britt said.
According to the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s report, only 1 percent of enrollees over the age of 65 have paid for their premiums. And among states operating under the federal marketplace, Texas has the lower percentage of premiums paid, at 42 percent. In Arkansas, by contrast, 88 percent of those seeking health insurance under Obamacare have completed the enrollment process.
The committee plans to hold a hearing next week to speak with insurance providers about enrollment data.
