Officials still pushing for health-care plan sign-ups

Despite the majority of Senate Republicans working toward abolishing the Affordable Care Act, the Obama Administration is increasing efforts to get a record number of people signed up for health coverage through healthcare.gov.

Health officials have worked to get people connected to coverage before the Jan. 31 enrollment deadline. It hasn’t always been an easy sell, since the average cost of health insurance spiked this year as insurers adjusted their prices to match the new market under the act. In Montana, people saw their health insurance bills increase between 28 and 58 percent.

Health officials point to the fact that while the cost of coverage has increased, so have most people’s tax breaks. Christen Linke Young with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said an estimated 77 percent of Montanans can find plans for less than $75.

She said nationwide, enrollment in coverage through healthcare.gov is higher than ever. As of last week, more than 52,000 Montanans had signed onto a plan. Nearly 11,000 of those enrollees were new customers.

“We’re particularly pleased to see enrollment growth this year, despite significant headwinds,” Linke Young said. “It’s no secret that opponents to the ACA are talking about going down a dangerous path of taking coverage away from people with no plan to replace it.”

President-elect Donald Trump has publicly asked lawmakers to quickly replace Obama’s signature health-care law.

In the early hours of Thursday morning, Senate Republicans moved one step closer to repealing the Affordable Care Act by passing a budget resolution that can chip away at the law’s foundation. The decision will move onto the House sometime in the next few weeks for approval.

Linke Young said more than 35,000 people have called the department to ask whether they should still sign up for coverage.

“Without hesitation, our answer to those people is ‘yes,’” Linke Young said. “The Affordable Care Act is the law of the land and affordable quality coverage remains available through healthcare.gov.”

A poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation this month found that 48 percent of Americans want the law rolled back. The poll also found that 75 percent of Americans either want lawmakers to leave the law known as Obamacare alone or repeal it after a new plan is ready to take its place. Twenty percent said they wanted the law dismantled immediately.

Even as Congress debates the law’s uncertain future, the federal health department is making a final push to point people toward healthcare.gov as the enrollment deadline nears.

Linke Young said the department will be running additional TV and radio advertising, sending targeted emails and posting reminders on sites like YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

Aviva Aron-Dine with the health department said even if Congress establishes a fast-tack process to repeal the act with no replacement, the repeal most likely would be delayed for several years as a new plan takes shape.

However, she said that uncertainty of what comes next could cause health insurance companies to raise the price of insurance or stop offering coverage.

“Repeal and delay leaves our entire health-care system poised on the edge of a cliff, and the default outcome is that we plunge over it,” Aron-Dine said.

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at khoughton@dailyinterlake.com.