In the first year that Obamacare made health insurance available and affordable, the number of individuals who had health insurance rose by 46 percent, from 10.6 million in 2013 to 15.5 million in 2014. And about 43 percent of that growth came from individuals purchasing coverage through an exchange.
That's the conclusion of a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of data submitted by insurers to regulators. While Kaiser acknowledges that the 43 percent is an estimate, it notes that it used a formula that compares overall growth with numbers of the newly insured released by the federal government.
When viewed state by state, it becomes clear that marketplace insurance is working very well in some states, and not well at all in at least two.
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Said Kaiser: "Four states — California, Florida, Texas and Georgia — accounted for almost half of the enrollment growth. In six states, the number of people covered in the individual market increased by more than 75 percent: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Maine, New York and Rhode Island."
But in Colorado, Massachusetts and Nebraska, the numbers actually fell from 2013 to 2014 — by 4 percent, 9 percent and 12 percent respectively. (Nebraska's numbers are not yet final.)
And there's more growth coming, Kaiser said.
"As of the end of open enrollment for 2015, 11.7 million people had signed up for marketplace coverage, an increase of 3.7 million over 2014. Not all of those new enrollees will pay their premiums and begin coverage, but it is likely that the individual market has continued to grow in 2015, though at a slower pace than in the first year of full ACA implementation. Over time, reaching new enrollees — particularly those who are uninsured — will be key to the long-term success of the law," Kaiser concluded.
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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.
