Next Year, Extend Open Enrollment Of The ACA Marketplaces Into January

Health Affairs February 18, 2021
Coleman Drake, David Anderson

When the 2021 open enrollment period for the federally facilitated health insurance Marketplace, Healthcare.gov, ended on December 15, 2020, more than 8.25 million individuals had enrolled. After including the state-based Marketplaces, overall Marketplace enrollment increased for the first time since 2016. This increase occurred despite decreased affordability for the large majority of enrollees, minimal advertising, and little navigation support, which would have helped more people who could have benefitted from enrolling but did not. What is more, a complex enrollment process, described below, has meant that among even those who do attempt to sign-up on time, many may still ultimately miss out on securing coverage. Fortunately, there’s a straightforward fix to begin addressing this problem next year.

Improving Affordability As...

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