More than 56,000 Mainers have enrolled in the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace insurance plans for next year, according to figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That’s about 5,000 more enrollments in Maine compared to the same time last year.
Still, Emily Brostek of Consumers for Affordable Health Care says she’s concerned some people aren’t enrolling due to rising premiums.
“Because people have gotten letters from their insurance company that can sometimes be misleading,” she says. “It makes it look like you’re going to be paying more than you will, because it doesn’t account for the tax credit going up as well.”
Brostek says there’s also concern about the future of the ACA. Though President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell says currently, the federal health law is intact.
“Insurers have emphasized that the coverage people buy today is a contract for 2017 — a contract that they will continue to honor,” she says.
Across the U.S., enrollment for ACA marketplace insurance is on track to outpace last year’s numbers, with 6.4 million people currently signed up.
