Utah ACA enrollment for 2019 rises slightly compared to last year
By Stacy Stanford
In the face of deliberate sabotage efforts and threats, Utah Affordable Care Act/Obamacare enrollment surpasses expectations, demonstrating the high public demand for quality, affordable healthcare.
Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released numbers from the final week of this year’s open enrollment period, showing that 194,570 Utahns have signed up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act healthcare.gov marketplace.
This puts sign-ups for the Utah 2019 open enrollment period slightly above last year’s numbers — 194,118. Initial enrollment had appeared to be lagging in Utah and across the U.S., but this shows that signups continue to keep pace with prior years, regardless of the elimination of the individual mandate penalty and the spread of non-ACA-compliant short-term plans, legal threats, and countless acts of undermining and neglect.
Take Care Utah is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping individuals and families enroll in health insurance through Medicaid or the individual marketplace on healthcare.gov. There have been drastic cuts to funding across the nation for programs like Take Care Utah, and yet they continue to get the job done and connect people in need to affordable, accessible health care.
“We are really happy with these numbers,” said Randall Serr, Take Care Utah director. “We work all year long to help Utahns access health care. Even with the confusion and repeal efforts, Utahns came out in droves to sign up for health insurance through the marketplace.”
It has been encouraging for organizations like Take Care Utah and Utah Health Policy Project — a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization focused on sustainable healthcare solutions for underserved Utahns — to see such a consistent demand in Utah for the flexibility and access provided by the individual market.
“There is just as much need as ever for ACA insurance in Utah,” said Matt Slonaker, executive director at the Utah Health Policy Project. “It is good, affordable health care, and Utahns know it. In the face of congressional, legal, and administrative threats and undermining, the Affordable Care Act is still standing, and Utahns still realize how important it is to get covered.”
Beyond these impressive open enrollment numbers, it is worth noting that for many Utah customers it was more affordable to go “off market” this year and purchase plans directly from insurers rather than through the healthcare.gov marketplace if they did not qualify for subsidies. Consequently, total individual marketplace enrollment numbers may end up being even higher than the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services numbers quoted here.
Stacy Stanford is a health policy analyst for the Utah Health Policy Project.
The viewpoints expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Independent.
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