For all of those who have worked so hard to get South Carolinians signed up for health insurance via the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, they received a well-deserved gift for the holidays.
This past week the federal government released a report on the number of Americans who have signed up for health insurance since the start of open enrollment on November 1st through December 19th.
According to Shelli Quenga, Director of Programs for Palmetto Project which has the only Affordable Care Act statewide Navigator grant to promote enrollment, “189,552 South Carolinians have renewed or enrolled in the Health Insurance Marketplace. As a comparison, in mid-January 2015 . . . there were 150,962 who had either renewed or enrolled in coverage.”
In one month less time, our state has seen a 25% increase in total enrollment compared with last year. The national enrollment numbers are reflecting the same dramatic results.
While the Affordable Care Act is still characterized as a failure by its opponents, those without employer-provided health insurance are turning to the health insurance marketplace for affordable coverage.