The ObamaCare open enrollment is beginning its third week, after about 600,000 people signed up in the first four days, according to the Trump administration.
Compared to 2016 that is almost twice as many on the first day only. An average of 150,000 a day signed up this year, as opposed to 84,000 in the first 12 days of last year’s open enrollment. The data shows that despite ObamaCare’s advertising budget being cut by the Trump administration, sign up numbers are reaching a record high. Out of the total 600,000, about 460,000 were returning customers, while the rest were new, which also indicates this year’s rate of enrollment is much higher than that of last year.
However, there are still certain challenges which ObamaCare faces. The open enrollment period this year is much shorter than that in 2016, leaving people half the time to sign up for healthcare plans. Furthermore, Republican lawmakers are still discussing whether ObamaCare’s individual mandate repeal should be included in their tax reform bill.
Senators say it may still be added even though it was not included in the bill Republicans released on Thursday. Earlier this week, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that 13 million more Americans would be uninsured in the next decade if the mandate was repealed. On the other hand, it would save over $338 billion which could be used to cover some tax cuts, The Hill reports.
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