85% of ACA enrollees got subsidies

A new demographic breakdown of exchange enrollment released by HHS last week showed that 85% of the more than 8 million people who signed up for Obamacare coverage received premium subsidies. And of the 5.2 million who applied for financial assistance through the federal exchange, only 13% said they had previous coverage.

Outgoing HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius hailed the new data as evidence that the Affordable Care Act was succeeding in extending coverage to the uninsured.

Nationwide, 47% of enrollments occurred after March 1 in the final weeks of the six-month open-enrollment period; nearly a third of those who signed up late were young adults. Overall, 28% of those who enrolled were ages 18 to 34, and 54% were women. Of those who reported their race or ethnicity, 62.9% were white, 16.7% were African-American, 10.7% were Latino and 7.9% were Asian. Only 5% chose platinum-tier plans, 9% gold, 65% silver, 20% bronze and 2% catastrophic.

Some states that had seen sluggish enrollment during the first five months of exchange operations saw spikes in the final weeks. Texas, Florida and Georgia saw their enrollment more than double in the final month.

The federal exchange, which handled sign-ups for 34 states, enrolled 5.4 million people in coverage. Roughly 2.6 million came through online marketplaces operated by 14 states and the District of Columbia. Nearly a quarter of all enrollments, 1.9 million, came via California's exchange.

The administration also indicated that 4.8 million more Americans are enrolled in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program than at the start of open enrollment. However, it remains unclear how many of those individuals were newly eligible for the expanded Medicaid program. States had the option of expanding Medicaid eligibility to individuals with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty threshold, and roughly half the states opted to do so.

“Across the country, Americans will continue to sign up for Medicaid coverage,” Sebelius said.

The CMS has not released data on how many of the 8 million exchange enrollees have made their first premium payments, though WellPoint executives last week said about 90% of its exchange customers were paying up.

The new CMS data marks the first time the agency has reported the percentage of exchange enrollees who previously were uninsured. Earlier analyses have suggested lower percentages. In New York, two-thirds of enrollees through early February indicated that they were previously uninsured.

Follow Paul Demko on Twitter: @MHPDemko