Washington, D.C. – Obama administration confirmed 7.3 million Affordable Care Act insurance holders are still enrolled and still pay their premiums.
The updated count was disclosed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Marilyn Tavenner during the Oversight and Government Reform hearing before the House Committee. The meeting was held in order to provide urgent care, addressing the increasing concerns among the private health insurance holders.
In April, Obama had announced the signing up of 8 million people for the said insurance coverage in the marketplaces, both in the federal insurance exchanges and state insurance exchanges.
Representative Darrell Issa, committee chairman questioned the 700,000 or 9% drop of Affordable Care Act insurance holders and enrollees based on a specific report. Administrator Tavenner pointed out that the reason for the drop was probably due to the employer-sponsored insurance for employees, or some decided not to push through and pay, while other individuals discovered their eligibility for Medicaid. In fact, other people were considered to be under the “uninsured classification”.
Additionally, federal computer systems are unable to provide an updated count of enrolled health plan holders under the health care act. Thus, the government is mainly relying on reports provided by private insurers.
Through the administration’s encouragement, some consumers decided to switch plans or enroll new insurance plans starting April. A sort of an urgent care near me was provided to consumers, such as the “special enrollment periods” plan, which were highly advantageous to marry and divorced individuals, expectant parents, and those obstructed by technical errors. They signed up through the HealthCare.gov website.
Administration officials emphasized their gratitude towards the continuous premium payments of Affordable Care Act insurance holders, considering the majority of holders, which is equivalent to 85% who are receiving subsidies through tax credits that reduce their premiums.
The meeting also provided an urgent care clinic concerning the security weaknesses in the federal insurance exchange website as it has remained incomplete since June. Government Accountability Office director Gregory Wilshusen admitted the lack of risk assessment in the website’s personally identifiable information. Federal health officials also did not require strong passwords to the federal exchange computer systems.
Patients always need the services of urgent care clinics or health facilities, whether to use their health insurance coverage or not should be provided with secured health care systems. Thus, the security of HealthCare.gov is believed to be unfounded, resulting to Affordable Care Act insurance holders to back out or switch to other private health care plans.
