Dec 19, 2018 - Health

Affordable Care Act enrollment falls 4%

Fewer people signed up for ACA coverage for 2019. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The Affordable Care Act's open enrollment period for 2019 is over, and almost 8.5 million people signed up for health insurance in the 39 states using the federal HealthCare.gov website — down about 4% from last year's open enrollment.

The big picture: Expensive premiums, low unemployment, people shifting into Medicaid and some Trump administration moves all contributed to the lower enrollment figure. However, other states still need to report their ACA signups, and it'll be just as important to watch how many people in this market pay their first premium.

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Axios
Updated 52 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

  1. Politics: Chris Christie: Wear a mask "or you may regret it — as I did" — Senate Democrats block vote on McConnell's targeted relief bill.
  2. Business: New state unemployment filings fall.
  3. Economy: Why the stimulus delay isn't a crisis (yet).
  4. Health: FDA approves Gilead's remdesivir as a coronavirus treatment — How the pandemic might end — Many U.S. deaths were avoidable.
  5. Education: Boston and Chicago send students back home for online learning.
  6. World: Spain and France exceed 1 million cases.
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Fadel Allassan
59 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Early voting eclipses 2016 total with 12 days until election

People stand in line to vote early in Fairfax, Virginia in September. Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Americans have cast more than 47.1 million ballots in the 2020 presidential election, surpassing the total early-vote count for 2016 with 12 days left until Election Day, according to a Washington Post analysis of voting data.

Why it matters: The election is already underway, as many states have expanded early and mail-in voting options because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Jonathan Swan, Alexi McCammond
2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

What to expect from the final debate of the 2020 election

Trump and Biden at the first debate. Morry Gash-Pool/Getty Image

Watch for President Trump to address Joe Biden as “the big guy” or “the chairman” at tonight's debate as a way of dramatizing the Hunter Biden emails. Hunter's former business partner Tony Bobulinski is expected to be a Trump debate guest.

The big picture: Trump's advisers universally view the first debate as a catastrophe — evidenced by a sharp plunge in Trump’s public and (more convincingly for them) private polling immediately following the debate.

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