The figures released late Friday from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services offer the most complete look to date at what happened to enrollment after Republicans in Congress failed to extend enhanced ACA subsidies at the end of last year. The figures capture the marketplace after a three-month nonpayment grace period expired.
According to the report, an estimated 19.2 million people are enrolled in ACA plans as of February.
That’s a drop of more than 16 percent from the 23 million people who signed up for coverage at the end of open enrollment.
The Department of Health and Human Services suggested that drop in enrollment could be attributed to a federal crackdown on fraudulent or “phantom” enrollment.
But health analysts point to costs. The loss of enhanced subsidies spiked many people’s premiums by double digits; the new coverage numbers likely reflect the sticker shock Americans experienced.
“This coverage loss happened at the same time millions of people faced double or even triple digit increases in their premium payments,” said Cynthia Cox, a vice president and director of the ACA program at KFF.
Insurers and health policy experts have been warning that a steep enrollment drop was imminent once people’s first premium bills came due.
This is the first time ACA marketplace enrollment has dropped since the first Trump administration, and it comes on the heels of several consecutive years of rapid growth and record high enrollment.
