Despite media reports about Obamacare enrollment surging, a new Centers for Medicare for Medicaid Services (CMS) report released on Wednesday revealed that less than one-quarter of new Obamacare signups are new customers.
Multiple media reports detailed how nearly 1.5 million Americans signed up for Obamacare during its enrollment period, however, the CMS report details that most “signups” are renewals, not new enrollees.
The CMS report revealed that, during the first 11 days of Obamacare enrollment, 345,719 Americans signed up for Obamacare for the first time, which represents less one than a quarter of total signups during the Obamacare enrollment period. Of the nearly 1.5 million Americans who selected plans through healthcare.gov, over one million Americans renewed their Obamacare coverage, which represents over three-quarters of total enrollments through the Obamacare exchanges.
Breitbart News reported that early enrollments typically denote Americans who renew their Obamacare health insurance coverage, rather than new enrollees, who tend to sign up later during the enrollment period.
Breitbart also reported during the initial weeks of the Obamacare enrollment period more than three-quarters of new Obamacare signups are actually renewals.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, hails the initial signup numbers as a victory for Obamacare.
Wyden said, “Those who pushed the repeal and replace agenda for so long have been exposed as offering ideas that take the country backward. That has helped us in terms of our agenda for building on it.”
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) argued that premiums continue to skyrocket due to Obamacare.
“The American people were promised that if Congress passed the Affordable Care Act, health insurance would be cheaper and more available, and it’s been neither. What people are having to pay who aren’t getting a subsidy is unconscionable,” explained Kennedy.
In October, Trump signed an executive order to expand more affordable health insurance options. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) praised the order as “the biggest free-market reform in a generation.”
Senate Republicans will include a repeal of Obamacare’s individual mandate in their tax reform legislation, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
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