The administration had estimated enrollment at just more than 5 million people and enlisted celebrity and government officials to help sign up more of the uninsured. It worked: around a million more people joined, pushing the numbers enrolled before the March 31 deadline over 6 million.
This last-second numbers boost exceeded the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimate that the number of enrolled participants would max out at 6 million.
Opinion polls indicate that despite the millions who have signed up, many more have not. A national survey by the Pew Research Center and USA Today between Feb. 27 and March 16 found that 53 percent of Americans don’t approve of the law.
In some states including Colorado, signing up for Obamacare via the state’s healthcare exchange network is straightforward, and at least from the perspective of someone young and healthy living in Denver, appears to be more affordable and cover more than before. But this varies from state to state. Some of my friends signing up on the federal government website expressed frustration.
The national average for a silver-level insurance plan for a 40-year-old with no subsidies costs about $270 per month. But in some cities the average is between $381 and $483 per month. The cost of living index doesn’t appear to factor into the health plan costs. Coverage costs more in rural Wyoming and Nevada, for instance, than in New York City and San Francisco.
The self-employed is one of the groups the Affordable Care Act is meant to help. Obamacare offers subsides on a sliding scale to individuals who make less than $45,000 annually in an effort to reduce out-of-pocket costs for health insurance that small businesses would have to ante up now that it’s mandatory.
If you are in the 18- to -34-year-old age bracket, you will have been aggressively courted by the Obama administration to sign up for the program. This is because younger consumers tend to be healthier and cheaper to insure, meaning the monthly dues they pay are vital for keeping future insurance costs, especially for older consumers, down.
Of the 50 states, only 14 have private health exchanges, forcing everyone else to sign up for insurance via the federal government website which has had trouble handling traffic in the past.
The White House announced the site had received 1.5 million visits on March 25, six days before the law required most Americans be enrolled or pay a penalty. The call center received more than 350,000 calls that same day, according to Healthcare.gov Twitter feeds.
OK so you were supposed to sign up by before April 1, but you experienced technical difficulties or long wait times at federal call centers. There will be a grace period before fines kick in, the agency overseeing Healthcare.gov announced.
