Obamacare signups surge in Indiana
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A record 21.3 million people signed up for health insurance on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces for 2024, with the largest enrollment increases tallied in Indiana and other red states.
Why it matters: The 30.7% annual increase in ACA sign-ups comes as former President Trump's renewed calls for repeal have again raised doubts about the law's future, writes Axios' Jason Millman.
- Enrollment figures released by federal health officials last week indicate that Republican-leaning states would be heavily affected by the law's repeal.
By the numbers: States with the largest year-over-year increase in sign-ups include West Virginia (80.2%), Louisiana (75.9%), Ohio (62.2%), Indiana (59.6%) and Tennessee (59.5%), according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the marketplaces.
- Seven other states saw increases of 45% or more: Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Texas.
- Almost a quarter of enrollees were new to the marketplaces this year.
Context: Some of the enrollment surge can likely be attributed to a portion of the millions who've recently lost Medicaid coverage moving to the marketplaces.
- Democrats also made marketplace subsidies larger and available to more people, though the enhanced assistance is set to expire after 2025 without an extension from Congress.
- The Biden administration also boosted enrollment outreach and closed a "glitch" in the law that kept some families from accessing subsidies.
Zoom in: Nearly 300,000 Hoosiers signed up for plans through Healthcare.gov.
- Medicaid disenrollments in Indiana began in June, with enrollment declining 219,337 from May to December 2023.
- Roughly 30,000 were determined to be ineligible.
- About 190,000 were terminated for procedural reasons.