Obamacare sign-ups top 230K in Ohio

Dayton Daily News (OH)

Jan. 05--A total of 230,254 Ohioans either re-enrolled or signed up for private health coverage this year under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for coverage beginning Jan. 1 -- about a 6 percent drop from last year's total at the end of open enrollment for the beginning of 2016, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Ohio's total enrollment for 2017 ranked No. 13 among the 39 states that use the HealthCare.gov website for enrollment in commercial health plans sold through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace. The remaining states and the District of Columbia use their own enrollment platforms.

Nationwide, 8.8 million Americans signed up for coverage under the health law, commonly referred to as Obamacare, from Nov. 1 through Dec. 19 -- the extended deadline for coverage beginning on the first of the year. That number was up from 8.6 million at the same time last year, according to HHS.

In addition, more than 7 million Americans -- including more than 716,000 Ohioans -- are now covered under the law through expanded Medicaid, which extends coverage to most able-bodied adults with annual incomes under 138 percent of the federal poverty level, just over $16,000 for an individual and $33,000 for a family of four in 2016.

Consumers still have time to get covered for 2017 by enrolling in private health plans sold through the marketplace by Jan. 15 for coverage beginning Feb. 1. People can enroll in Medicaid whenever they become eligible.

But growing enrollment under the health law faces new obstacles in the coming months as president-elect Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans step up their efforts to repeal the law.

Republican leaders have pledged to rapidly repeal as much of Obamacare as they can, but still have not settled on a replacement plan or timeline for implementing a replacement.

Such uncertainty could force private insurers already reeling from higher-than-expected costs to cover those newly insured under the law to abandon the marketplace altogether, leaving millions without coverage.

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