The Red Alert in the Latest Obamacare Enrollment Numbers |
The Red Alert in the Latest Obamacare Enrollment Numbers
Yes, a lot of people dropped their insurance. But many others shifted to high-deductible “bronze” plans, which increases the risk of a medical debt crisis that could affect everyone.
When Republicans allowed the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies from the Inflation Reduction Act to expire last year, most people predicted that many Americans would drop their insurance coverage because they couldn’t afford premiums without those subsidies, and that the cost of coverage would go up for everyone. A new report from KFF, the nonprofit health care news and research organization, shows that at least some of that has already come to pass, and we’re not even halfway through the year. The worst may be yet to come.
Enrollment in the Obamacare marketplaces for 2026 fell by 1.5 million people, to 23 million—the first decrease since 2020. But that only counted people who chose to drop their insurance during the open enrollment period. An analysis by the Wakely Consulting Group found that only 86 percent of enrollees had paid their January premiums by........