Cook County leaders urge Obamacare sign-ups as Republicans plan teardown

Jan. 11--Local leaders pleaded with Chicagoans on Tuesday to sign up for health insurance through Obamacare -- and to speak out in support of the health care law -- as Republican leaders in Congress continued their promises to tear it down.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Democratic U.S. Rep. Danny Davis of Chicago, and the head of the Cook County Health and Hospitals System, among others, held a news conference Tuesday at Stroger Hospital to urge Illinois residents to sign up for coverage and advocate for the law's survival.

Their words came the same day that House Speaker Paul Ryan said Congress hopes to simultaneously repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

The push for speed and coordination came as growing numbers of Republicans expressed concerns about the GOP leadership's plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement in hand, potentially leaving the 20 million people who gained coverage under the law in limbo.

"We have to get to business. Obamacare has been a catastrophic event," President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview with The New York Times.

"Long to me would be weeks," he added of the gap between repealing and replacing the law. "It won't be repeal and then two years later go in with another plan."

Consumers have until Jan. 31 to sign up for coverage through the exchange if they want health insurance in 2017. Consumers who sign up by Sunday can get coverage starting Feb. 1, and those who enroll after Jan. 15 but by Jan. 31 can get coverage beginning in March. After Jan. 31, only consumers who experience certain life events during the year, such as having a baby, losing coverage elsewhere or getting married would be eligible for coverage.

In Illinois, 351,270 people signed up for exchange coverage as of Dec. 24 -- about 4,400 more than the same time a year earlier, according to federal data released Tuesday. Nationally, enrollment as of Dec. 24 was at 11.5 million, an increase of 286,000 people compared with a year earlier.

About one-fourth of Illinois residents who've signed up for 2017 coverage were new to the exchange, according to the data.

"Contrary to much of the sound and fury we're hearing out of Washington, the Affordable Care Act has been a monumental success," Preckwinkle said. "The Affordable Care Act has been a godsend to those who did not have health insurance."

Before the Affordable Care Act, more than half of patients in the Cook County Health and Hospitals System were uninsured, but two-thirds now have insurance, Preckwinkle said. Illinois also expanded Medicaid coverage for low-income people under Obamacare. Many worry that not as many people will be eligible for Medicaid if Congress overhauls Obamacare.

"It's important for people to recognize that for the first time in our history, we're caring for a majority-insured population," said Dr. Jay Shannon, CEO of the county health system. "I never thought I'd say that."

About 76 percent of those who signed up in Illinois will receive tax credits to help offset the costs of their premiums by an average of $366 a month, according to the data. The age group with the most sign-ups in Illinois so far is the 55-to-64 crowd, making up about 30 percent of enrollments.

Still, many criticize the law in Illinois and across the country. Rates for this year increased by an average of 44 to 55 percent for the lowest-priced plans, and consumers shopping on the exchange are finding fewer choices than last year. Many also have felt frustrated that available plans do not always include their preferred doctors and hospitals.

Republican leaders emphasized the law's problems at a news conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

"Obamacare is failing and failing quickly," Ryan said. "It's really bad. Families can't even go to the doctor because their deductibles are so high, so they just skip having health care."

He said Republicans will aim to repeal and replace the law at the same time "so we can save people from this mess." He said Republicans will pass as much as they can initially and then more later that will show "the full scope of what a real replacement effort looks like."

Republicans have not yet released a plan detailing exactly how they'd like to replace the law, but Kellyanne Conway, an adviser to Trump, said earlier this month on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that Trump doesn't want anyone to lose insurance coverage.

Kathleen Falk, a regional director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said she's confident that people who sign up for coverage through the exchange will have that coverage through 2017, regardless of what happens to the Affordable Care Act in coming months.

Associated Press contributed.

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