More than 100,000 people signed up for coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplace the day after the presidential election.
“These are benefits that are available to them today, and we’d certainly encourage people to sign up. The president elect is going to make his own decisions and worries about those future decisions shouldn’t have any impact on anybody capitalizing on the opportunities that are available to them today,” said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, according to USA Today.
The figure released by HHS represents how many people selected and purchased a plan on the Healthcare.gov site Nov. 9, the day after Donald Trump, who has promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act, won the presidential election.
The surge may be driven by customers worried about losing health coverage under the new administration. Those concerns, at least for now, are unfounded, according to state regulators.
“If you have health insurance through the exchange, you’ll still be covered. If you don’t, we encourage you to reach out and enroll," said James Wadleigh, CEO of Access Health CT.
For more on how this increased enrollment could influence changes to the ACA, click on the link below:
John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.