Page 16 - HOH

A4 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 20 december 2018

Obama health law sign-ups beat forecast despite headwinds

By RICARDO ALONSO- comprehensive coverage ment numbers rebut charg-
ZALDIVAR remained unaffordable for es of "sabotage" coming
Associated Press many people who don't from Democrats.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The qualify for financial help. Trump has repeatedly
Affordable Care Act has Also, Congress repealed called the health law a
yet again beaten predic- a requirement for Ameri- "disaster" and last year led
tions of its downfall, as gov- cans to get health insur- an unsuccessful drive to re-
ernment figures released ance, and President Don- peal it.
Wednesday showed unex- ald Trump's administration Nonetheless, CMS Admin-
pectedly solid sign-ups for sharply scaled back adver- istrator Seema Verma said
health coverage next year. tising and opened the way that the administration
The Centers for Medicare for competition from lower- has taken strong steps to
and Medicaid Services cost insurance that covers run a smooth and efficient
said nearly 8.5 million peo- less. sign-up process and that
ple had enrolled as of last Then last Friday, a Repub- Wednesday's numbers are
Saturday's deadline, with Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., left, and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Ore., wait lican-appointed federal "another sign that the ad-
about a dozen states, in- for Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., before a news conference to judge in Texas declared ministration's efforts are
cluding California and New press Congress to intervene on behalf of the Affordable Care the whole law unconstitu- working." For example, Ver-
Act, after a federal judge in Texas ruled it unconstitutional, on
York, still left to report. The Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018. tional on the eve of the en- ma said HealthCare.gov
preliminary number was Associated Press rollment deadline. Obam- was down for less than an
down about 4 percent, acare supporters are plan- hour this open enrollment
when a much bigger loss year for former President stabilized and consumers ning to appeal. season.
had been expected. Barack Obama's health had more coverage choic- Experts said the new num- After the Republican-led
Different factors combined care law, commonly re- es. bers show staying power for Congress repealed Obam-
to make for an unpredict- ferred to as "Obamacare." On the negative side, pre- the health law, even with its acare's unpopular fines for
able sign-up season this On the plus side, premiums miums for Obamacare's continuing political prob- people who go without
lems and premiums that health insurance, many
remain too high for many experts predicted it would
middle-class consumers. lead to a drop in enroll-
"Despite everything that ment. But Verma said that
has been thrown at this doesn't seem to have hap-
market, politically, with pre- pened.
mium increases and also She said the main reason
regulation changes, there enrollment has continued
is still a core group of Amer- to gradually erode year
icans who want this insur- over year is because pre-
ance and buy this insur- miums are still unaffordable
ance every year," said Chris for people who don't quali-
Sloan of the consulting firm fy for help.
Avalere Health. "They are a Nearly 11.8 million people
hardy group of people." signed up during last year's
But the number of new open enrollment season,
customers — the key to counting consumers in all
growing the Obamacare 50 states. It's possible that
market — remained down number could be matched
by about 15 percent when again, after totals from re-
compared to last year. maining states are added.
Wednesday's figures are The health law provides
for the 39 states using the subsidized private insur-
HealthCare.gov website. ance for people who don't
Not included yet are totals have coverage through
from about a dozen states their jobs. It also gives states
running their own insurance the option to expand their
marketplaces. Also to be Medicaid programs to
added in later are Health- cover more low-income
Care.gov customers who adults. Since it passed in
signed up close to dead- 2010, about 20 million peo-
line or who left phone num- ple have gained cover-
bers for a callback. age, keeping the nation's
In a twist, Trump administra- uninsured rate under 10
tion officials said the enroll- percent.q