Covered California Enrolls Nearly 50,000 People for Health Care Before Deadline

Covered California announced Monday that it finished the open-enrollment period with 412,105 new consumers signing up for health coverage.

"California met our projections, driven by the nearly 50,000 consumers who signed up for health insurance in the last two days of open enrollment," Covered California Executive Director Peter V. Lee said. "This high number of sign-ups validates the surveying we did after the election. When consumers know they have a pathway to get health care made affordable by tax credits, they sign up."

In addition to the strong pace of enrollment, Covered California's initial analysis shows that the number of new young adults signing up for coverage comprised a large proportion of new enrollees for the second consecutive year.

Young adults in the crucial 18- to 34-year-old demographic accounted for an estimated 37 percent of this year's plan selections, compared to 38 percent in the open-enrollment period for 2016, 34 percent for the open-enrollment period for 2015 and 29 percent for the open-enrollment period in 2014.

"Covered California is continuing to enroll consumers in large numbers and with a good mix of younger and older, which helps keep rates down for everyone and keeps the entire individual market stable," Lee said.

Lee said survey research conducted in December among potential enrollees showed that political uncertainty about the future of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act created some concern, but did not prevent individuals from enrolling. Instead, concerns about affordability remain top of mind, with some uninsured consumers still not understanding that financial help, or subsidies, are available to reduce the cost of health insurance.

"The demand for affordable health insurance remains very strong in California," Lee said. "Reaching consumers where they are with the information they need is critical to attracting the enrollees we need to make competitive health insurance marketplaces work."

While the rate of renewal from 2016 to 2017 will not be clear until March, when it is possible to reconcile paid premiums, Lee said there are early indications that consumers who enrolled in 2016 are continuing into 2017.

On Friday, the federal government reported enrollment and renewal figures for federal marketplace states. Using similar criteria, Covered California has enrolled more than 368,000 new consumers during the fourth open-enrollment period and continues to enroll 1.2 million consumers, for a total enrollment of more than 1.5 million people.

"Covered California continues to grow and make a difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of people," Lee said.

Now that open enrollment has ended, Covered California has begun new marketing focused on enrolling those who are eligible to sign up now due to changes in their life circumstances, such as losing their health care coverage, getting married, having a child or moving.

Special-enrollment marketing includes multicultural and multi-segment radio, digital and display advertising statewide.

For more information on special enrollment rules, visit www.CoveredCA.com/individuals-and-families/getting-covered/special-enrollment.

Consumers who qualify for Medi-Cal may enroll through Covered California year round. Consumers should visit CoveredCA.com, where they can enroll online or get information about obtaining free, confidential in-person assistance in a variety of languages. They can find a certified enroller at a storefront in their area or have a certified enroller contact them through the "Help on Demand" feature.

For more information, call 800-300-1506 or visit CoveredCA.com