Despite the Trump administration recently pulling the plug on all advertisements and marketing for the Affordable Care Act’s current open enrollment period, anyone can still sign up for health care insurance under the law through the end of the month.
Erin Knot, the Michigan director for Enroll America, doesn’t expect anyone would lose their coverage immediately if Republican lawmakers carry out their promise to repeal Obamacare this year.
“If you obtain coverage, you should expect that your benefits will continue through 2017,” Knot said. “Understand that nothing has changed. Not the plans, not the prices, not the final date, which is January 31.”
Enroll America is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people with the process of signing up for health insurance.
Healthcare.gov, the Obamacare website, is still operational.
According to Knot, 309,000 people in Michigan have successfully registered for coverage this year. Typically, there is a surge in the number of people who sign up for health insurance during the last week of the open enrollment period.
Knot says registrations in Michigan could outpace the number of people who signed up for Obamacare coverage last year.
“We have seen just an uptick in interest,” Knot said. “Our partners are detailing how busy they are. When I’m interfacing with consumers across the state, people have discussed with me that they’re going to go to the marketplace, that they’re going to obtain coverage this year, recognizing how important it is to obtain quality affordable coverage.”
Soaring premium rates have been a critique of Obamacare, but Knot says roughly 80% of Obamacare enrollees in Michigan also receive some kind of government subsidy to help pay those costs.
