South Florida continues to lead Obamacare sign-ups

Jan. 05--As Republican leaders vowed to keep their promises to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, casting uncertainty on the coverage gains made by 20 million Americans under the health law known as Obamacare, sign-ups on healthcare.gov continued to surge through December, with Florida leading all states in enrollment, the Obama administration reported on Wednesday.

About 8.8 million Americans, including 1.6 million people in Florida, have signed up for a plan through the first two months of the open enrollment period, which began on Nov. 1 and runs through Jan. 31. About 300,000 Floridians signed up for a plan between Dec. 18 and Dec. 31, according to a bi-weekly report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Enrollments reported Wednesday include consumers who were automatically enrolled for 2017 after failing to renew or change their plan by Dec. 19, which was the deadline to sign up for coverage that began on New Year's Day.

About 2.2 million new consumers and 6.6 million returning customers enrolled, according to the report. Among those renewing their coverage, about 4.4 million people, or two-thirds of those signing up, actively selected a plan.

The numbers reported Wednesday for healthcare.gov did not include enrollment for the 11 states and Washington, D.C., that operate their own insurance exchanges.

___

(c)2017 Miami Herald

Visit Miami Herald at www.miamiherald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.