Despite this, a significant number of people who were removed from Medicaid may end up uninsured. Around 25.3 million Americans were uninsured in the first quarter of 2023. Becerra expects that the majority of people who sign up for marketplace coverage will be eligible for federal subsidies to reduce their monthly premiums, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act. However, these subsidies are set to expire in 2025.
Key takeaways:
- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that more than 20.3 million people had signed up for Obamacare health insurance plans as of December 24, 2023, surpassing the previous record of 16.4 million sign-ups in 2023.
- However, nearly 14.4 million low-income adults and children have been kicked off of Medicaid plans due to states re-verifying eligibility following a pandemic-long freeze.
- While a substantial portion of new Obamacare sign-ups may be attributed to Medicaid disenrollments, a large number of people who were kicked off Medicaid may end up going uninsured.
- Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra highlighted the competition in the marketplace, with more than 90 percent of enrollees choosing from three or more health plans, and expressed concerns about the use of artificial intelligence algorithms by big insurers to deny care.