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November 16, 2016 at 02:25 AM
Managers of state-based Affordable Care Act public exchange programs say that, so far, shopping activity looks strong.
Related: ACA individual health market creeps open
The individual major medical open enrollment period for coverage that takes effect in 2017 started Nov. 1 and is set to run until Jan. 31.
Mila Kofman, executive director of DC Health Link, the exchange for the District of Columbia, said last week at an exchange board meeting that 6,200 consumers used the exchange enrollment website on Nov. 1, up from 2,400 on the first day of the open enrollment period for 2016, according to an audio recording of the meeting.
Managers of Connect for Health Colorado, Colorado’s Denver-based exchange, said their exchange has received enrollment submissions for 14,134 people for the first 13 days of the open enrollment period, up from 9,197 enrollment submissions for the first 13 days of the 2016 open enrollment period.
The higher level of enrollment activity “appears to be a national trend,” exchange managers say in an enrollment period report.
Charles Gaba, the editor of ACAsignups.net, an ACA exchange tracking blog, estimates that a total of 1.6 million people have applied for ACA coverage through state-based exchanges and through HealthCare.gov, the enrollment system the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services set up to provide ACA exchange enrollment services for states that were unwilling or unable to handle exchange enrollment services.
Any Affordable Care Act policy reforms may not take effect until 2018. (Photo: iStock)
Election effects
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Republicans, who have promised to block the ACA, also control the House and the Senate.
Republicans have not talked about ACA program shutdown transition plans. Some health policy watchers have said they think the earliest any major changes could take effect would be 2018.
But the new political situation came up several times at the exchange board meetings.
