Over 200K sign up for ACA plans during Biden special enrollment period

Americans want health insurance. More than 200,000 people signed up for health coverage on federal ObamaCare exchanges in the first two weeks of a special pandemic enrollment period, according to federal statistics released Wednesday.

An executive order signed by President Biden in January allows uninsured Americans to sign up for coverage on healthcare.gov from Feb. 15 through May 15.

Most states that operate their own exchanges have also extended open enrollment, which is typically available only for qualifying life events such as getting married, a job loss or a move.

“These numbers are an encouraging sign — but we can’t slow down until every American has the security and peace of mind that quality, affordable health coverage provides,” Biden said in a statement.

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the number of signups from Feb. 15 to Feb. 28 was nearly three times higher than during the same period last year, when only 76,000 people signed up.

Nearly 30 million people were uninsured in 2019 before the pandemic, according to the Census Bureau, but the Trump administration opted not to open a special enrollment period for them during the pandemic despite doing so for natural disasters in the past.