Obamacare: One Million Enrollment Falls Short Of Goal, Includes Few Young People
For Obamacare, one million signing up for the Affordable Care Act via HealthCare.gov is an important milestone yet still falls short of Barack Obama’s goal of 3.3 million by the end of 2013. But are the Obamacare enrollment statistics good enough to break even based upon the number of young people signing up?
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Obamacare enrollment estimates were initially very low because of the HealthCare.gov glitches and design problems.
Even after the relaunch the Obamacare website still suffered from many problems and even Microsoft is getting involved in trying to fix it. Still, for Obamacare to go from six people on October 1 to over one million two months later is still an accomplishment, especially considering how the marketing has managed to offend gay people and even hipsters with the Pajamas Boy.
The plan for keeping the Obamacare rates reasonable are largely dependent on expanding the “insurance pool,” which is the total number of people covered underneath health insurance as defined by the Affordable Care Act. The Obamacare tax penalty has been the main way the administration has been trying to goad people into signing up.
At one point the Supreme Court released data suggesting a goal for Obamacare enrollment numbers. The healthcare cost for young Americans used to average $854 per year. In order for Obamacare exchanges to break even, 2.7 million Americans in the 18 to 35 age range must spend $5,800 a year per individual in order to balance the higher medical costs of seniors. This goal is based upon the assumption that younger people will be healthier and not require as much medical coverage.
Never mind that Barack Obama is almost two million short of his goal of 3.3 million by year’s end, this means Obamacare’s one million enrollment figure needs to include a large majority of Millennials. And that’s where Obamacare enrollment numbers have been failing miserably in the past. Only 63 percent of people 18 to 29 years old say they’re familiar with the Affordable Care Act. In California, seniors made up 34 percent of Obamacare enrollments despite only representing 11 percent of the state population. Data from several states suggest young people only account for around 21 to 23 percent while 54 percent of those purchasing plans were between the ages of 45 and 64.
Even with Obamacare’s one million announcement, do you think the Affordable Care Act will fail?
