NH Healthcare.gov enrollments nearly hit last year's numbers

Dec. 22--This year, 44,496 New Hampshire residents enrolled in a health insurance plan on Healthcare.gov during the open enrollment period, just slightly lower than the 44,581 who bought insurance in the individual marketplace last year.

Nationally, 8.3 million people got coverage in the insurance marketplace this year: 2.1 million people signed up for the first time, and 6.2 million renewed their plans.

"We are reporting that for the third year in a row enrollment in the Federal Exchange remained stable," said Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma in a news release. This year's enrollments were down about 1.7% from last year, which were down approximately 4% from the year before.

The health insurance marketplace allows people to compare and purchase health insurance plans. The open enrollment period, Nov. 1 through Dec. 15, is the only time people can sign up for coverage, outside of "qualifying life events" like getting married or divorced, or losing other health insurance.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will release a final tally of Healthcare.gov enrollments in the second week of January, and a more detailed report in March 2020.

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