Where Obamacare enrollment is plummeting
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Ohio, Oklahoma, Arizona, South Carolina and Minnesota have sustained some of the deepest losses in Obamacare coverage since beefed-up federal subsidies expired this year, according to state-by-state federal data.
Why it matters: The coverage losses are hitting deep-red states as well as blue ones after Congress let the subsidies expire.
By the numbers: Ohio and Oklahoma each lost nearly a third of their Obamacare enrollment since last year, with other states' coverage dropping more than a quarter, according to the state breakdown, first reported by the Associated Press.
- Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi and Louisiana also had deep coverage losses.
- Nationally, Obamacare enrollment fell by about 3 million since last year, or about 13%, according to a separate federal report from the Department of Health and Human Services last month.
- That report attributed the drop-off to improper or fraudulent sign-ups by "phantom enrollees." But health policy experts have pointed to large numbers of people not paying their first ACA premium following the expiration of subsidies.
- The pandemic-era enhanced subsidies that Democrats passed in 2021 have overwhelmingly benefited red states, especially those that haven't expanded Medicaid, according to analysts.
What we're watching: How Republican candidates in the midterms talk about Obamacare subsidies and the coverage losses — if they talk about them at all. (We know what Democrats are going to say.)
