Technical issues faced on the initial day of enrollment may have prevented as many as 100,000 people from enrolling in a health care plan. (Photo: Shutterstock)
Perhaps everyone's just too busy watching the impeachment hearings unfold, or they're getting an early start on their Christmas shopping. Or maybe it's the repeal of the individual mandate. Whatever the reason, signups for individual health insurance plans on Healthcare.gov are down 20 percent over last year.
After the first two weeks of enrollment, numbers are down 240,000 from last year. Week 2 saw 754,967 enrollees, for a running total of 932,049. Last year's two-week total was 1,176,232.
Related: ACA enrollment: A weak week
The first "week" only ran from November 1 through 2, compared to November 1 through 3 last year, but even accounting for the one less day, that's still a significant drop. Some experts say the numbers simply haven't recovered from the technical issues faced on the initial day of enrollment, which may have prevented as many as 100,000 people from enrolling.
"Unfortunately, due to the limited data and the impact of last Friday's technical issues this first week's numbers offers very little insight into how open enrollment is performing more broadly this year," wrote Joshua Peck, former chief marketing officer for HealthCare.gov.
Source: CMS
Still, there are some insights to glean. Despite the loss of the individual mandate and the legal threats to the ACA, 244,928 new members have enrolled in an ACA health plan this year, an increase over last year.
"People understand the value of health insurance, and there are a lot of good deals in the marketplace," Tara Straw of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities told CNBC.
The ACA open enrollment period ends on December 15 for most states. We'll be keeping an eye on the numbers and the potential implications.
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Emily Payne
Emily Payne is director, content analytics for ALM's Business & Finance Markets and former managing editor for BenefitsPRO. A Wisconsin native, she has spent the past decade writing and editing for various athletic and fitness publications. She holds an English degree and Business certificate from the University of Wisconsin.
