Heading into the final days before the Dec. 15 deadline for Jan. 1 coverage, over 2.8 million consumers have selected a plan in the HealthCare.gov platform as of last Saturday, including 88,007 in Tennessee.
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said today she is “pleased with the strong start to this year’s Open Enrollment” even though it still represents less than 30 percent of the 10 million people the Obama administration has projected will sign up by the end of 2016 for one of the health care exchange plans offered through ObamaCare.
Open Enrollment for 2016 health coverage at HealthCare.gov began Nov. 1 and runs through Jan. 31, 2016. However, government officials urge consumers to sign up by Tuesday to qualify for coverage starting Jan. 1.
In Tennessee, most of the health exchange plans are imposing double-digit increases in premiums for consumers who sign up for coverage in 2016 following hefty losses in the first two years of the program by health insurers.
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, the Chattanooga-based health insurer that s igned up more than 70 percent of the health exchange subscribers last year, is boosting its 2016 premiums by an average 36.3 percent. For many consumers, however, the government is helping to pay a portion of the health exchange plans, depending upon family income.
“While we have more work to do, more than 1 million new consumers have signed up for affordable quality coverage in the 38 states that use HealthCare.gov,” Burwell said. “And existing Marketplace customers who have returned and shopped for a more affordable plan are paying less in premiums this year than they were paying last year.”
Burwell said in October she expects 10 million individuals to be enrolled in coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplaces and paying their premiums so-called effectuated coverage at the close of 2016. As part of that goal, HHS believes more than one of every four uninsured Marketplace-eligible consumers will select plans during Open Enrollment.
Americans who remain uninsured in 2016 despite having the option of buying health coverage through an Affordable Care Act marketplace will owe an average tax penalty of $969 per household, a new analysis has found.
That amount is substantially higher than the average estimated penalty of $661 for those who went uninsured in 2015, according to the analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The health law requires people without health insurance to either pay a penalty when they file taxes or to claim an exemption. Last year, the penalty was $95 per adult or 1 percent of household income, whichever was greater. This year it is rising to $325 per adult or 2 percent of household income, and for 2016, it will increase to $695 per adult or 2.5 percent of household income.