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The Trump administration said Thursday that 8.8 million people had signed up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s federal marketplace, a surprisingly large number only slightly lower than the total in the last open enrollment period, which was twice as long and heavily advertised. The numbers essentially defied President Trump’s assertion that “Obamacare is imploding.” (Pear, 12/21)

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said more than 8.8 million people have signed up in the 39 states served by the federal HealthCare.gov website. That compares to 9.2 million last year in the same states — or 96 percent of the previous total. The level exceeds what experts thought was possible after another year of political battles over the Affordable Care Act, not to mention market problems like rising premiums and insurer exits. On top of that, the Trump administration cut enrollment season in half, slashed the ad budget, terminated major payments to insurers, and scaled back grants for consumer counselors. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 12/21)

For the seventh and final sign-up week ending on Dec. 15, the report said, 4.1 million people had signed up for coverage or been automatically renewed by the government because they had ACA health plans this year and had not selected ones for 2018. However, federal health officials had previously said the automatic renewals would not take place until after the federal marketplace's enrollment deadline. Asked for a breakdown between the active sign-ups and the auto-enrollments, officials refused to provide it. (Goldstein, 12/21)

Kaiser Health News: Despite Compressed Sign-Up Period, ACA Enrollment Nearly Matches Last Year’s

[E]nrollment has not yet closed in 11 states — including California and New York — plus Washington, D.C., that run their own insurance exchanges. Those states are expected to add several million more enrollees. (Rovner, 12/21)

In many of the 11 states that run their own marketplaces, enrollment so far has exceeded last year’s pace, and people have more time to shop. In New York, California, Minnesota, and Massachusetts, enrollment will continue until the middle or end of January. And millions of people in hurricane-affected areas in the Southeast can continue to buy coverage through the end of December. Others may have extra time if their insurance carrier left the market. (Tozzi, 12/21)

In a tweet, CMS administrator Seema Verma said her agency had done a great job to “make this the smoothest experience for consumers to date.” (Weixel, 12/21)

Several major ACA insurers, including Centene Corp., Health Care Service Corp. and Medica, said their own sign-ups appeared on track to meet internal projections. “We’re almost exactly on our expectations,” said Steve Ringel, president of the Ohio market for CareSource, which sells ACA plans in four states. “It’s playing out exactly as we had hoped.” Of the 8.8 million consumers who were signed up for plans on HealthCare.gov during the federal exchange’s enrollment period, which started Nov. 1, about 2.4 million were new consumers, while 6.4 million were returning enrollees, including people automatically re-enrolled in plans. (Wilde Mathews, 12/21)

"It's incredible how many people signed up for coverage this year with record-setting demand for affordable health coverage," said Lori Lodes, a spokeswoman for Protect Our Care, a non-governmental advocacy group that stepped in to publicize the marketplaces when the Trump administration slashed outreach efforts. "The demand for affordable coverage speaks volumes — proving, yet again, the staying power of the marketplaces," Lodes said. (Levey, 12/21)

The looming repeal of the individual mandate as part of the GOP’s tax overhaul, which would take effect in 2019, will likely leave the Obamacare insurance marketplaces on shakier ground. Without a requirement to purchase insurance, fewer people are expected to sign up, particularly the younger and healthier customers who help insurers offset the costs of covering the sick. (Demko, 12/21)

Open enrollment for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act comes to a close in Maryland today even as the law faces continuing threats. About 150,000 Marylanders have signed up for insurance in 2018 under the law known as Obamacare, which provides coverage to those who do not get coverage through work. That’s about the same number as last year. (Cohn, 12/22)

More than 700,000 Floridians selected or were automatically re-enrolled in Obamacare plans during the final week of regular enrollment, bringing the state’s six-week enrollment total to 1.73 million. That’s nearly equal to last year’s 12-week total of 1.76 million enrollees. (Ochoa, 12/21)

Georgia’s insurance exchange showed an astonishing surge in the last scheduled week of Open Enrollment, roughly doubling the total enrolled to 482,904. That’s very close to the 493,880 in Georgia who signed up for coverage for the current year. (Miller, 12/21)

With one day left of open enrollment, 106,000 Connecticut residents were enrolled in health insurance through Access Health CT, the state’s exchange, and officials reminded residents that they still will face a federal tax penalty if they don’t have insurance in 2018. Access Health CEO Jim Wadleigh and Lt. Gov Nancy Wyman hoped to clear up any confusion caused by Congress’s approval of the GOP tax bill, which included a repeal of the individual mandate tax penalty that takes effect in 2019. (Rigg, 12/21)