- Enrollment in ACA Marketplaces Brisk Yet Lags Last Year's Total as Deadline Nears Washington Post by Amy Goldstein — The number of Americans getting Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans for the coming year accelerated last week in states relying on the federal insurance exchange, bringing the total to 3.6 million sign-ups with less than two weeks left in an abbreviated enrollment season. The latest federal snapshot, coming amid fresh political turbulence over the future of insurance marketplaces created under the law, is slightly ahead of the first five weeks' pace last fall. But compared with data from two-thirds of the way through the longer enrollment seasons of past years, the number of consumers who have chosen health plans is lagging far behind. The 3.6 million figure is half of the total at the comparable point in the sign-up period for 2017 coverage, according to an analysis by the Washington-based consulting firm Avalere Health. To reach the 9.2 million enrollees that states relying on the federal marketplace had by the final deadline, a huge surge of people would need to take action by the time the season concludes on Dec. 15 or be automatically re-enrolled just afterward.
- Deadline Week Crunch for Health Law Sign-Ups Under Trump Associated Press by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar — The Trump administration came into office looking to dismantle Barack Obama’s health care law, but the ACA survived. Now the administration is on the hook to deliver a smooth ending to sign-up season, with a crush of customers expected this week. For millions of eligible consumers time runs out on Friday. Dec. 15 is the last day for procrastinators to enroll in subsidized private coverage in 39 states served by the federal HealthCare.gov website. Consumer interest has remained brisk, even as the Trump administration cut the sign-up season in half, reducing it from roughly from 90 days to 45 days. “It’s more likely than ever that they’re going to run into real volume problems in the last week because that’s when everybody is going to show up,” said Tim Jost, a legal analyst who closely follows the workings of the ACA.