New enrollments in Covered California plunged by almost 24 percent for the current year, a fall that had been both feared and expected.
“The federal removal of the individual mandate penalty appears to have had a substantial impact on the number of new consumers signing up for coverage,” Covered California chief Peter Lee said.
Nonetheless, the state Obamacare operation finished its open enrollment for 2019 with 1.5 million plan selections — virtually identical to 2018’s total.
New signups numbered 295,980 vs. 388,344 in 2018, a decrease of 23.7 percent.
2019 will be the first year under the Affordable Care Act that penalties are not assessed for failing to have accredited health insurance.
“It is too early to draw any conclusions,” Lee said. “We have seen the impact that federal decisions have had on new enrollment, and we do not yet know how that will play out for renewing consumers down the road.”
Lee said the reduction in new signups was “relatively evenly spread across demographics.” Officials fear that younger healthier consumers will forego health insurance, leaving a more costly client base in the marketplace.
The 23.7 falloff in new signups was at the high end of projections, which ranged up to 26 percent.
The state marketplace’s drop in new enrollment is higher than the average 15.8 percent drop of the 39 states served by the federally facilitated marketplace this year, a Covered California analysis found.
“Early analysis also indicates that affordability remains a key obstacle for many, especially those who do not receive subsidies,” Covered California said.
The total number of net plan selections for 2019 is about 1.514 million, which reflects 1.218 million consumers having their coverage renewed and 295,980 consumers who newly signed up for coverage during open enrollment.
Covered California has blamed a large part of 2019’s average premium increases on the Trump administration’s successful targeting of the tax penalty for not having insurance.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom recently called for a state-based health insurance mandate, a move praised by Lee’s organization.
Covered California spent roughly $40 million on advertising in the run-up to the 2019 enrollment.
Speak Your Mind