HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA): “Heading into the second week of the Affordable Care Act’s annual open-enrollment period, early sign-ups and traffic appear strong, according to industry and government officials, with more than 600,000 people selecting plans through the federal HealthCare.gov website in the initial days.
ACA insurers including Highmark Health, CareSource, Independence Blue Cross and Sanford Health Plan said they were so far seeing significantly increased sign-ups compared with last year’s enrollment period. But companies cautioned that it wasn’t clear that the early surge will be borne out in the final enrollment numbers, which likely won’t be known until next year.
Insurers suggested the early influx was partly sparked by the spotlight on the ACA amid Republican efforts to repeal or change it. ‘You couldn’t have paid for that kind of advertising,’ said Steve Ringel, president of the Ohio market for CareSource, which sells ACA plans in four states. ‘It doesn’t matter what the story line is, it’s drawing attention to the marketplace.’ “
-Anna Wilde Mathews, “Insurers See Jump in Sign-Ups for Affordable Care Act,” The Wall Street Journal online, Nov. 9, 2017 05:49pm