Government Healthcare Policy, Business and Technology

ACA signups continue to outpace last year, hitting 11.5 million

Modern Healthcare: The rate of enrollment in the state and federal marketplaces continues to outpace the previous year despite ongoing uncertainty over the future of the health reform law.

As of Dec. 24, 11.5 million people were signed up for coverage, an increase of nearly 300,000 compared with the same period last year. Another 700,000 purchased basic health plans subsidized by federal funding for people whose income is above the Medicaid threshold but below 200% of the poverty level. Those customers bring the total new customers signing up this period to 12.2 million.

The Obama administration pointed to these number to debunk recent statements from some Republicans, including House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who said the Affordable Care Act's marketplaces are "in what the actuaries call a death spiral."

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