Nearly 940,000 sign up for ObamaCare coverage in special enrollment

The Biden administration’s special enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act has seen almost 940,000 Americans sign up for ObamaCare coverage this year. 

Officials released the updated numbers on Thursday showing that between Feb. 15 and April 30, nearly 940,000 people have enrolled under the extra signup period instituted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The total number of new enrollees represents a jump from the more than 500,000 people who signed up for coverage by the end of March. 

The Biden administration implemented the special enrollment period to allow people who needed health insurance due to the disruption of the pandemic to have extra time to sign up. The period is slated to last until Aug. 15, meaning the number of enrollees could balloon even more. 

Regular enrollment, which occurred in the fall, saw a separate 8.2 million Americans sign up for ObamaCare. The statistics also only count the enrollees from the 36 states that use the federal healthcare.gov, leaving out those who signed up through the 14 other state systems. 

The administration also noted that since April 1, premiums have decreased by more than 40 percent, from $100 to $57, on average for almost 2 million enrollees.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement encouraged Americans who want health insurance as soon as June 1 to sign up.

“Across America there is a need and demand for high-quality, low-cost health insurance,” he said in a statement. “That’s why we are doing all we can to reach people who need coverage.”

“A few moments of your time are all that it takes for you to save your family money, get better care, and have peace of mind,” he added.

The special enrollment period was implemented under Biden after the Trump administration didn’t launch an extra signup period because, officials said, those who lost employment health coverage were already eligible to sign up.