More than half of the 9 million people who enrolled in coverage through HealthCare.gov were new customers, the administration touted this week.
More than half — 53 percent — who got insurance via the federal exchange route were newly insured. And, of the other 47 percent, 25 chose a new plan — another sign that people are getting the hang of the enrollment process, understanding it better and presumably making better choices, the administration implied.
The final total clocked in at 8.8 million customers.
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"These numbers tell a powerful story of a strong open enrollment and of engaged and satisfied consumers," touted Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell when the final numbers were released.
"Based on my experience looking at enrollment trends with employer-sponsored coverage and Medicare, it is clear that Marketplace consumers are more active, engaged and eager to shop for the coverage that's right for them," said Andy Slavitt, the deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
One caveat on that 53 percent: It's not known how many had insurance previously. This was their first visit to an exchange site, whether or not they had prior coverage.
As the news source The Hill pointed out, these 8.8 million signees came through the 37 states that use HealthCare.gov as their enrollment solution. About 3 million more got coverage through state exchanges.
Burwell may have been touting these numbers just in case the members of the U.S. Supreme Court were paying attention, The Hill suggested.
"The string of news the Obama administration is releasing about Obamacare numbers comes the week before arguments in a Supreme Court case that could gut the law. The case of King v. Burwell could invalidate subsidies to help people buy insurance on the roughly three dozen federally-run exchanges," the Hill reported, culling out this quote from Burwell:
"One thing is for sure, Americans don't want the progress we've made to be taken away from them," she said.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
