Health insurance enrollment for people who cannot receive financial help under the Affordable Care Act declined as premiums rose, making coverage less affordable, The Hill reports.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Monday released data showing enrollment numbers fell by 1.2 million people, or 24%, among people who earned too much to qualify for subsidies from 2017 to 2018. However, enrollment increased for those who were able to receive financial help under Obamacare by 300,000.
"New federal data shows individual insurance enrollment has increased among people eligible for ACA subsidies but declined among people who are not eligible," tweeted Kaiser Family Foundation healthcare policy expert Larry Levitt. "As premiums have risen recently, middle-class people have taken it on the chin."
"New CMS data shows a decline in unsubsidized ACA-compliant enrollment," tweeted fellow Kaiser Family Foundation expert Cynthia Cox. "Important context: there are still more people buying their own coverage today than there were before the ACA, when plans could discriminate against people with preexisting conditions."
As of February 2019, 10.6 million people received their healthcare coverage on the Obamacare exchanges, roughly the same number as in 2018.
"As President Trump predicted, people are fleeing the individual market," CMS administrator Seema Verma said. "Obamacare is failing the American people, and the ongoing exodus of the unsubsidized population from the market proves that Obamacare's sky-high premiums are unaffordable."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.