Millions of People Have Health Insurance Thanks to Obamacare
At least 9 million people are getting coverage under the health care law
The big number in the news this week was 1.1 million – the number of people who signed up for health insurance through Obamacare's federal insurance marketplace this year. This is an important figure, especially given the fact that it stood at little more than 100,000 at the end of November.
Nevertheless, that 1.1 million figure dramatically understates what the Affordable Care Act has already accomplished. The number we should be talking about is at least 9 million and could be 14 million people who are currently getting coverage under the law.
How many people are currently covered through the law? Start with the 1.1 million who have gotten care through the federal website. If you layer on the number of enrollees who have gotten coverage through state-run exchanges that number tops 2.1 million, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced Tuesday. Then throw in the 3.9 million people who have gotten health coverage under Obamacare's Medicaid expansion. Oh and don't forget about the young adults under 26 who are still covered by their parents' health insurance plans thanks to the Affordable Care Act. A year-and-a-half ago, the Department of Health and Human Services put the number at 3.1 million but an August study by the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that focuses on health policy research, estimated that the figure had reached 7.8 million. Total those numbers and you get a minimum of 9 million Americans covered through Obamacare and a maximum of nearly 14 million.
Millions of People Have Health Insurance Because of Obamacare - US News and World Report
